Perennial Dance

And the day came when the risk to remain in the bud

was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.

So many people have opened up this journal cover...read the first quote and quietly gasped. These words have inspired me for so long and are attributed to writer Anais Nin. They seemed the perfect choice for the first quote in my new journal design - the first of many, I hope.

Coming out of the "bud" is hard for so many of us. My guess is that's because it means leaving what is family for a place unknown. Translated into taking a new class, especially if it's one you've wanted to try for a while, you probably have lots of hopes, even expectations. Those get bundled into a little pocket of fear. Going someplace new can feel both #1 Playful and #2 Vulnerable. Many of us have a really hard time with both.

That's really why I like watercolors! Everyone says they are hard to work with - but I kids don't think so. They're more apt to just go with the flow! I suggest to my students that between classes they try abstract work using lots of washy, undefined layers instead of trying to make tightly controlled shapes. Now, ask yourself, "Which one of those already sounds like more fun?" Ha. Gotcha!

You'll see lots of go-with-the-flow parts of the painting we published on the journal. I call it "Perennial Dance". The quotes are mostly about life and gardening - because I think there's so much learn from digging in the dirt. Hope is the first tool you need.

We scattered the pages with some wonderful quotes for "writing prompts" so you'll find May Sarton, John Ruskin, Alice Walker and others...even Disney's Eeyore! I love the ivory pages for writing. Here's a link* so you can see it. http://tinyurl.com/jg93eqx.

Please let me know what you think. I'd also love to hear your ideas for favorite inspiring quotes and artwork or themes you'd love to see in a journal.

This is my way of taking risks - leaving the bud. I've called myself an Endeavorista! for many years. You probably are one, too. Or know a bunch of them. What do you think that means?

So another challenge is to Write a few sentences and send me what you think Endeavorista! means. I was convinced to put an international trademark on Endeavorista! So an that's opening a huge blossom for me! Stay tuned and I'd be so blessed if you stuck around for the adventure.

Note: *I apologize if you can't click through directly to Amazon Books. It's a technical difficulty because of yours truly. So if you send me a quick email to Murtha.Trish@gmail.com I'll fix you right up.