In honor of our annual Art Journaling sale, and in response to the kind comments on my Fighting the Gloom post, I turned to Art Therapy to get my out of my cloud.

I recently discovered Art Journaling. At first, I didn’t get it. Where were the pictures? The documenting of family life? The record-keeping we do as scrapbookers?

Then, I had a reason to really, truly, try it. I had a hard day. I needed to get my head right and be there for my son. I need that day to not be about me, but about him. I took an hour (for “work”) and I used Art Journaling as my therapy. It got me through that terrible day (Finding my Peace).

Art Therapy is not always about sadness, loneliness, or worry. It can be about celebration, happiness, faith. Every month I will post a new prompt, but that is all it is. A prompt. Art Therapy is about YOU. It is a place to work out your day. Your mind. YOU.

There are no limits here. You can use anything in our store, another store, free on the ‘net, or even physical products. It is for you to put your feelings on a page. All I ask is that you give credit where credit is due.

You may upload one layout, or you may upload a million layouts. I will not define the limit of your feelings, thoughts or expression. This is for YOU.

This summer life got  the better of me & I couldn’t balance family, work & Art Therapy. Luckily Dani, The Urban Fairy, and I are kindred spirits and she took over.  Since I’ve been moping lately (Fighting the Gloom), I went and took a look at this months challenge.  That bright spot of color was exactly what I needed to buck up and find a bright spot in my world.  Not that it was hard. I got a wonderful phone call last night.

A phone call that only brightened my day (week, month, YEAR!) but also dovetails perfectly into why I started Art Journaling to begin with (Finding my Peace). My beautiful boy, my Christian, finished his tour of duty this summer. He came home mostly in tact, both in spirit and body. He left a little part of him behind in lands not that far from here. He had changed. His ready smile was slow to come. Sleep was almost impossible.  It is a tough transition; Marine to civilian.

In September Cole, Soren & Dave drove from Texas to New Mexico.  They went to visit Papa, Dave’s dad, Gramma, Nick & Christian. It was a good visit, but a hard visit. At the end, they piled into two cars, and drove Christian to Texas with all his stuff… an entire duffle bag full.

Dave got him settled, and then, reluctantly flew back to Germany with Cole. We both worried about Chris. Luckily Soren is an energizer bunny rabbit. Brother extraordinaire. He kept Chris busy.  If it wasn’t home improvement, yard work, or walking the dogs (dog therapy is the best!), he was dragging Chris to all his hobbies… golf, shooting, fishing, paintball, BBQ’ing. Every day I saw Chris struggle a little less.

When I finally got to hold in my arms (Myrtle Beach), embarrassing him with my tears, I felt the change in his body.  The tension, the stress, the losses, they are all still there but he is on the road to recovery. His laughter is genuine now. He can find brightness in his gloom. I am beyond proud of Chris for fighting his demons, and Soren for pushing him through the darkness.

And that phone call? My beautiful boy landed himself an amazing job, at an amazing company, at a salary I can’t even believe. My heart is singing today!

christian

Christian away & at home ❤

A huge shout out to the truly talented Designers at The Studio who made my layout possible today: