A Personal Abecedarium of iHanna

I will not have my life narrowed down. I will not bow down to somebody else’s whim or to someone else’s ignorance.
Bell Hooks

An abecedarium (or abecedary) is an inscription consisting of the letters of an alphabet, almost always listed in order. Typically, abecedaria (or abecedaries) are an explanation of something in a way that is easy to remember. I thought perhaps one way to introduce myself, iHanna, to new visitors (and hopefully reveal a thing or two to current friends) would be to do an abecedarium about myself. Plus I always love to make lists, alphabetical or otherwise.

So let’s start from the beginning…

A is for Art
A is for art, of course. After all always on my mind. The more I dive into art, both via painting and collage, the more I fall in love with it. I don’t have an artistic education or a degree, but I love making art, and I love how art makes me feel. How it makes me love the world more.
♥ A bit about why painting makes me happy

B is for Books
I love all things books and text. I read novels all the time, I love to visit the library, order books from Amazon and I also review creative books on my blog. But the book form is also part of my art practice, as in filling notebooks, journaling, and binding my own books. I love the feeling of a overflowing Art Journal.
♥ Here are a few of the books I made

C is for Creativity
Creativity is the feeling, action and process that encompasses almost all of the things I enjoy most. Creativity is almost a religion to me, my gospel of love. Creativity fills me up with happiness, in whatever form I find it. I wish to spread it to all corners of the world, and this blog is one of my vehicles. :-)
♥ I hope there will always be time for creativity

D is for Doodles
I love to doodle. I did it back in school. Then at office meetings, while talking on the phone or listening to music. Now I do it with a bit more purpose, to create patterns, meditate on a page or draw a mandala to find a center inside. I doodle all over the place. It helps me concentrate and listen better – and these doodles fill me, as well as my notebooks, with mindfulness and joy.
♥ Check out the Category Draw and Doodle

E is for Embroidery
Embroidery is another of my art forms. Textile art, free-form embroidery, hand stitching… I love to hold fabric between my fingers and I enjoy the slow process of taking one stitch at a time. I never follow patterns, I just sew my own way.
♥ Stitching adventures file under Embroidery

F is for Flow
I love flow. Flow is the positive psychology concept often talked about in sports and creative actions. Flow is the mental state in which a person is fully immersed in a activity that results in a feeling of energized focus, full involvement, and enjoyment in the process of the activity. In essence, flow is characterized by complete absorption in what one does… It’s the best feeling ever.
♥ Let’s strive to find more creative flow

G is for Girl Power
I’m a Feminist. To me girl power is simply a need, because we know that women have been, and still are, treated like lesser versions of men: in families, companies, politics and through history. This misogynistic treatment must stop, because more equality will benefit everyone, yes both sexes. I don’t get people who says: Why me, I could never be a feminist. Are you blind? How can you not be a feminist when the world is like it is?
♥ That’s why I wish for more girl power in the world

H is for Happiness
Everything that I share on my blog, and all letters of this abecedarium, is about what makes me happy. I think it’s important to think about what makes you happy, and seek it out. Because Happiness is important. And fleeting, big and difficult as life sometimes can be, when happiness strikes it’s worth crawling through the hard times.
♥ Make your own Happiness Collage

I is for Inspiration
Inspiration is very important to me. Creativity comes from within, but to find it there, I believe that you need to browse a lot of inspiration. You need to fill the well constantly – with music, art, photography, exhibitions, other’s creativity, conversations, nature, culture, books and all that yummy stuff that is called a good life. I’m pro all of it. Plus spreading inspiration to everyone. That’s why I often will share blog links and found inspiration on my blog…
♥ Found Inspiration and Other’s Creativity

J is for Journaling
I’ve kept a notebook as my personal diary my entire life. It’s full of secret rants, adventures, thoughts, ideas, daily life (up and downs) and page after page of wonky hand writing. I think of it as one of my best habits, because writing always clears my mind and helps me move forward my goals. I love journaling and would recommend the practice to everyone.
♥ Morning or evening, I do some journaling

K is for knitting
Occasionally I knit or crochet, buy new yarn, visit a knitting café or yarn shop. Generally when it’s winter I just jump feet first into home knitted (striped) socks made from super wash wool while burning tea-lights, and avoiding the cold Swedish snow. Sometimes I log into Ravelry even. I’d call myself a periodic yarn addict. WIP to say the least!
♥ Most of all I enjoy simple knitting (and crochet too)

To be continued… Get part II here: [K to Z about iHanna]

Super fun to compile this list. Did you like it? Let me know if you make a alphabetical list of your own, I’d love to read it.

PS:
A while back Deborah Weber posted her own ABC of who she is and why she blogs, and that’s where I got the idea for this post. Thanks for the inspiration Deborah!