How to find the answers you need

I realized I had to make things; it was no longer just a hobby. It became my new anti-depressant.
Lisa Congdon *

What do you want next month to bring your way?

What will next year be about for you?

Read on, because it is never to early to ponder some big (and smaller) questions inside the pages of a journal.

Sometimes I feel like I only have questions and no answers. I feel lost and don’t know where to go or what to do with myself… Does this happen to you too?

This is when you need to sit down and think hard about your life, but of course it is a difficult job to do. You might feel too overwhelmed by inner questions to even get started. Not even google can present the right answers, especially when the questions are of a more personal nature. Maybe they involve your present and future plans, how you can set your own goals in life or rethinking the situation that you’re in. Sometimes you’re forced to do this, by the situation you’re in, sometimes you choose the change yourself and go looking for it. Whatever the situation, you really really need to focus on life issues sometimes in your life. More often than not, really. I truly believe that this is important work! But how to start you ask?

I felt my previous questionative post turned out rather negative. It is me complaining and feeling lost – but it was a good thing I pressed my favorite button in WordPress: Save and Continue! :-) I got so many helpful and nice comments back I was amazed. Where did all that come from? Thank you!

Shell wrote that my questions were questions that most creative people do ask themselves, and Leaca was thankful and reassuring, saying; I love that you ask yourself the same questions we all do, well in the similar anyway. Reading that made me laugh, it felt like I was special, famous or something like that. I’m not. I’m just a woman who writes and shares the ups and downs of being a creative person here online. But back to “asking questions” – oh how true it is, isn’t it? We’re all so lost sometimes, needing guidance but knowing that no one else can help with these inner questions. It’s up to us to find the answers – as always. Though I saw this quote today and after all your comments I have to agree with Deepak;

Despite the appearance of being separate individuals, we are all connected to patterns of intelligence governing the cosmos.
Deepak Chopra

Kim commented that she thought I was at a crossroads… Not an expression I’ve used before, but now I will start because it’s a great description of how my life is right now. It is true that I’m at a crossroads in my life and don’t know what direction to take. And I’ve been here for over a year now, waiting… On some days I don’t even know what to do with my next hour! In the mail last week I got the book At a Crossroads (Between a Rock and My Parents’ Place) by Kate Willamson (author and illustrator of the book A Year in Japan). Talk about serendipity (I ♥ that!)! Anyways:

One advice I got was to wait and do nothing. This is great advice when questions whirl around in your head. But I also believe that you can wait for too long. I do it all the time. You could wait a life-time without finding any answers, especially if you don’t take the time to form the questions. Time does not always make things clearer, action and research (within) is sometimes necessary! I’ve been “doing nothing” for so long now I can hardly remember how to walk, so baby-steps might be necessary from now on.

That list of questions I wrote last week was in no way complete (I have a lot more to consider), but those were the once that popped up as I searched the inside of my brain at the time. And now as I’ve been away over the weekend I have (some of) the answers! How did I do it? So easy!

How to find your own answers step-by-step:

1. Write down your questions.
2. Then answer them yourself!

You can wait a bit between step 1 and 2, but you don’t have to. This is how I got my answers this time:

Writing prompt: Soul searching in the diary

I printed my list of questions about things I need to ponder and make decisions about (see photo at the top of this post)! I brought the list with me on the train and then cut out each question (one row at a time) and glued it into my diary! Then I wrote about the corresponding subject. When I started with “I want” I knew the answer was closer than I had expected! I mean, I know what I want, but… I need to focus. To GTD (get things done!)! I need to stop some things that occupies my time and shift my attention to other stuff that might be more difficult but that will take me closer to my goals (new and old).

It was kind of like I had created my own writing prompts! The answers just came as I saw the questions. You could do this with almost anything in your life that needs some serious thinking. Guide yourself, be your own teacher. Have you heard the expression When the pupil is ready, the teacher will come?? Off course you have! I think we are our own best teachers, but we just don’t know it yet. Or we don’t trust our own answers perhaps?

My new diary is not a Moleskine, but the patchwork covered notebook I recently wrote about. My previous diary, the over-filled Moleskine Notebook, is now at final rest on the shelf of honor (as it has served its cause with splendor). Thank you my diary once again. And thank you everyone who visit this blog, and XXXXOOOO to all who wants! :-)

/I, Hanna

Creative every day?

More planning ahead: I also want you to consider being a creative person. After all, that’s what this blog is about! I know you can do it! Why not be creative every day next month? All you need to do is a little doodle… or something else. I’ve signed up for Art Every Day though as I’m already doing Daily Art Cards, I think I will try photography… I long to take more outdoor picture, should I commit to a daily walk (oh please somebody stop me!)? Maybe it will be too much crammed into one month but I’m very eager to write too! *wink wink to my NaNo-supporters*

PS: This post has ID-number 900? Isn’t that amazing!? That’s is quite an achievement!