The cold snap

Jane Heinrichs January 31, 2019

Dearest friends,

Both new and old

I hope you stay warm

In this cold.

I hope you find,

Amidst the grey,

That a robin sings

For you today.

This morning, after dropping off my daughter at school, I went for a walk in Richmond Park. Hoar frost covered the brambles and trees as if someone had sprinkled icing sugar from the sky, and the fine powder had adhered to everything. It was cold, but not nearly as cold as my home-town (which is gripped in the polar vortex and reaching temperatures of -50 C).

As I walked, a robin warbled, and hopped from branch to branch. It was a cheerful hopeful sound, and I wished I could send her song to all of you. It would lift your spirits, I’m sure of it.

So I’m sending you this drawing with the warmest wishes I can.

Xxx

Happy New Year!

Jane Heinrichs January 7, 2019

Happy New Year lovely friends!

I hope you’ve had a wonderful New Year’s Day.

I know we’re all contemplating changes, or maybe improvements, to ourselves and our routines for the New Year. I’m no different. Improvement is worthy, and something we should all attempt, for positive growth is so important.

But….

I just wanted to tell you… I think you’re just fine the way you are.

You might feel more accomplished if you cut sugar, or read the classics, or learned a new language, or exercised three times per week.

But you might not…

All that really matters is that, at the end of the day, you lay your head on your pillow feeling like you tried your hardest, you did your best, whatever the circumstances were. Some days our “best” shines with flowers and rainbows and unicorn glitter. Other days our “best” is just enough, brown and boring, but strong like the bare tree branches in winter. They might not look that impressive, but they are the armature on which glorious flowers, fruit and leaves grow on the good days.

It doesn’t matter if you lose those last pounds or learn to swing-dance. May you be more of amazing self this year. More true. More vibrant. The light of your soul beaming from your eyes and heart to everyone around you.

Sending love from this corner of the world to yours.

Strawberry moon

Jane Heinrichs July 4, 2018

Another full moon; another epic storm. This can’t be a coincidence can it? I resolved to paint all the full moons of 2018 and so far we’ve had snow storms, dust storms, rain storms… almost without fail.

Last night rain lashed the window panes and blew in sheets across the road. Wind twisted the tree-tops. Thunder clapped above our roof, and it was so resonant that the house shook. It was a classic prairie thunder storm, and I’m so glad I got to experience one on this trip home. —

Two Cup Morning

Jane Heinrichs May 10, 2018

This was a two cup of coffee morning.

It’s funny how best-laid plans often get changed at the last minute, isn’t it? I had my whole day organized: from what I was going to draw, to what I was going to buy at the green grocer. Then Mary woke up with a fever, and all those plans flew out the window on the spring breeze.

At first I was panicked. Oh no! So much to do! But that same spring breeze pushed the scent of deep purple lilacs into the house and reminded me to stop and enjoy the moment. The morning was cool and washed-clean after a midnight rain storm. The day might not go as planned, but maybe it would actually be better than I visualized!

I put a load of laundry in the washing machine, which I would hang out to dry later in the lilac scented sunshine. I popped a Care Bears movie in my laptop for Mary to watch while I worked, with her curled on the cushions beside me in my studio. Do you know what? I got more done than I expected! Then we wandered to town to buy more watercolours, have a coffee, and stop by the greengrocer to fetch veggies that aren’t wrapped in plastic.

It was a good day after all! And those two cups of fragrant coffee were the perfect pairing for my revised expectations.

What are you up to today? Is it going as planned?

Be inspired. Breathe in. Smell the coffee.

Jane Heinrichs April 20, 2018

Shall we have another coffee break? Wait, I’ll just pour the frothed milk over our coffee to make lattes. I’ll have mine decaf, no sugar. How do you like yours?

It’s Friday; which bitter sweet as I look the list I had for this week. It was long. I accomplished most of my important tasks, but not all of them. We are early risers, so I’ll work at dawn on the weekend days, before we head out for fun and games with our three-year-old.

At the end of the week I try to take a deep breath, and to be gentle with myself. Did you know that “inspiration” is latin for “breathing in.” I can’t think, or be inspired, unless I’m relaxed enough to let the breath flow freely. I chatted about that in my last monthly newsletter (which is a monthly meditation on creativity). Not on the list? You can read the back issue at THIS LINK, and if you’re inspired, please sign up. Next week I’ll be talking about being gentle with ourselves. I promise you’ll be inspired.

Anyway, if you were here for coffee we’d talk about lists (how to do you make yours? Bullet journal? Sticky notes? Digital app?), about breathing, about being gentle with ourselves even midst the chaos of daily life. And how important it is to stop and smell the fragrant coffee.

What are your plans for the weekend? And please head over to read the back issue of my newsletter. It’s my gift to you for being such lovely and inspiring friends.

Happy Valentine's Day from Stormy London!

Jane Heinrichs February 15, 2018

If there’s one thing I know for sure on this Valentine’s Day, it’s that we all need a little more tender loving care. Life is hard, and wonderful and complicated, and I think we often take care of everyone else around us, and put ourselves last on the list. I know I do that!

Yesterday, on my way home from the High Street with a heavy bag of groceries, I stood at the bus stop in the driving rain with two other women. We were all drenched. We all had heavy bags in our arms. We said nothing, but stood in solidarity under the one tiny piece of dry ground under the bus shelter. My heart went out to these women, and all of you as well, who put others first. Who go to the shops in the worst weather possible to buy flowers and balloons for your boyfriend, husband, children, or grandchildren. They love you for it. Believe me. They do.

Today I want to remind you that the storms you are walking through are making you stronger and giving you perspective. They might be minor squalls or huge hurricanes, no one else knows how big or overwhelming they are but you. But the storms will pass. When the sun starts shining again, you will see the beauty of the world with new eyes.

So Happy Valentines Day! From stormy London to you, wherever you are!

Taking a moment

Jane Heinrichs July 17, 2017

Lately life has felt like a mad dash to the finish line carrying an egg in a spoon and balancing a stack of books on my head. I have an illustration deadline in a week, which has thrown all my carefully balanced schedules into flux. This morning, after a few hours of intense work, I took 30 minutes to sip a hot chocolate and daydream at our local cafe. How's your Monday going?

An artistic wake-up call

Jane Heinrichs June 29, 2017

This morning I had a 4.45am wake-up call from a toddler who had had a bad dream and needed a potty break. It was hard to grumble when I saw the sky. One minute it was flaming pink and amber, but by the time I had tucked Little One back into bed it was back to grey. It was a fleeting moment and it made me think about being awake and observant. It is the artist's job to see everything, but often I'm so bogged down by crazy to-do lists that I plunge blindly forwards without really taking time to see the world around me.

This 4.45am spectacle was a little reminder to keep my eyes open.

----

Did you like this glimpse into my sketchbook? If so, please subscribe and share it with all your friends!

My week in Drawings and Verbs

Jane Heinrichs June 16, 2017

Looking at // the light streaming through my studio window and feeling grateful for fresh, summer days in London. My laundry is drying in the sun. The flowers are blooming floridly. And a sweet breeze is teasing my gauze curtains into a flutter.

Planning // for a weekend of rest and rejuvenation. Weekdays are packed with illustration deadlines and house-hold tasks. Weekends are for sitting in the shade with a book and staring at the clouds scudding across the sky.

Five Things About Me

Jane Heinrichs December 9, 2016

Five Things about me.

1. When someone raises a camera, I usually try to duck out of the sightline. I’d rather not be photographed, but I love drawing self-portraits. I feel like I can invest each drawing or painting with more authentic emotion than any photo could ever capture.

2. I have green eyes and an emerald engagement ring. Green is my favourite colour; I love how alive and restorative it is.

3. My sketchbook, my planner and my journal are the three most precious objects in my life. My mother, my husband and my daughter are the three most precious people in my life.

4. I was born in Swaziland; I grew up in Canada; I now live in England. I love to travel, but I’m actually happiest when I’m curled up with a book at home.

5. I studied art history, archaeology, Latin, and German at university. None of these are particularly useful in my current incarnation as a stay-at-home-mom and illustrator/writer. However, my studies taught me self-discipline, to be curious about everything, and that all ideas and things have a hidden history of meaning that reaches back through time.

Fancy playing along?

My week in drawings and verbs

Jane Heinrichs November 25, 2016

Grateful for... my yoga partner. Even though she sometimes confuses me for a jungle gym.

Accepting... the fact that sometimes life sends bittersweet surprises wrapped in pretty packaging. I've recently had one such surprise, which was both good news and bad news inextricably intermingled.

Baking... pumpkin pie tartlets to fit into tiny hands. I haven't made pumpkin pie for years, and when the spicy aroma filled the kitchen, I suddenly realized how much I missed it. My recipe is from my great-grandmother, which makes it the best pumpkin pie around, if only for the happy knowledge that the women in my family have been baking it for almost a century.

Re-reading... "Bird by bird" by Anne Lamott.

Considering... my plans for the New Year. I'm making a list of intentions, instead of goals. Intentions are more fluid and forgiving. A list of goals sometimes feels like an militant task-master, for when circumstances change (as they often do), the goals become rigid and unattainable. Intentions are malleable, and can grow and change as our life grows and changes.

Stretching... my creative muscles by doing daily drawings and trying to write 500 words per day.

Plotting... a new novel. I'm very excited, but also nervous. Starting a new project is never easy.

What are you doing right now?

My week in drawings

Jane Heinrichs November 4, 2016

Staring at the autumn sky and reciting the Vagabond Song as I walk through the park (poem is below....)

Dreaming of staying in bed after several very early mornings wake-up calls from Little One. "I finished sleeping!" she hollers at 4am, 5am, we're lucky if it's 6am.

And the poem that is giving rhythm to my footsteps right now...

A Vagabond Song by Bliss Carmen

There is something in the autumn that is native to my blood—
Touch of manner, hint of mood;
And my heart is like a rhyme,
With the yellow and the purple and the crimson keeping time.

The scarlet of the maples can shake me like a cry
Of bugles going by.
And my lonely spirit thrills
To see the frosty asters like a smoke upon the hills.

There is something in October sets the gypsy blood astir;
We must rise and follow her,
When from every hill of flame
She calls and calls each vagabond by name.

A month in review: October

Jane Heinrichs October 31, 2016

September slipped by silently, and October is also on its way out.

Can you believe it? Where did the autumn go?

We woke early this morning, and the world was cosseted in a thick blanket of mist. Church steeples floated in the grey fog.

On mornings like these, everything seems gentler and softer. The world is stripped of its summer grandeur. All pretence is gone. Autumn's beauty radiates from within.

What joys will November hold?

Highlights for October:

1. Celebrating Canadian Thanksgiving with a simple, hearty meal.

2. Celebrating our anniversary. Six years!

3. Celebrating Little One's second birthday.

4. Wow! October is such a joyful month full of family milestones and things to be grateful for!

5. The arrival of Gaga (grandma), for a two week visit.

Books read:

1. Help Thanks Wow by Anne Lamott

2. The year of living virtuously: weekends off by Teresa Jordan

3. A tree grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith

4. Season of Storms by Susanna Kearsley

By the numbers:

7: cyclamen planted in our front garden

9: guests at Little One's birthday tea party

1: Mary Berry chocolate cake baked and eaten (delicious!)

{Van Dyke Brown: one of my favourite colours}

October Stats:

Instagram: 532

Bloglovin: 918

Twitter: 568

Come follow along!

Posts from Past Octobers:

Making Lists to Get Things Done

Slowing Down

Sketches from New York and Minneapolis

Adventures in Athens

Adventures in Istanbul

Goals for November:

I should have a new illustration project starting shortly, and I'm looking forward to immersing myself in a new world populated with new characters. I can't wait to open a new sketchbook and sharpen my pencils. There's always such wonderful energy in my studio when I'm starting a new project, it's like a child waiting to open her gifts at Christmas. Surprise and joy are paramount.

My goals for the month:

+ Enjoy my time off until my new project starts. I want to spend time with my journal and sketchbook and wander the moors of my imagination.

+ Write. Write. Write. Anything. I've finished a short story, which is now on the submission rounds. What to write next? Perhaps a bundle of blog posts?

+ Daily drawings. Because they're like yoga for my fingers and my creative mind.

Are you writing a monthly review post? Feel free to share a link below in the comments. Let’s celebrate our accomplishments!

My week in drawings and verbs

Jane Heinrichs October 28, 2016

Currently....

Sipping : My second cup of decaf coffee. Little One is at nursery school. The house is quiet except for the slow tick-ticking of the radiators.

Wearing : A big celery green scarf and a deep purple silk top. I feel like I've been wrapped in the softest cloud of warmth and comfort.

Planning : Little One's second birthday party. I'm going to fill our house with a floating forest of gold, silver and pearl coloured balloons. It will look like the swaying kelp forests in the ocean. Balloons and ribbons will bob back and forth, and float from the ceiling. Hopefully, happy little people will try to jump up and catch them as they float past.

Editing : A story that is dear to my heart. I'm moving words around. Taking commas out, and putting them back in again. I'm slowly sinking into the world and re-acquainting myself with the characters.

Baking : Mary Berry's chocolate cake. I'm not too involved in bake-off mania, but I made her cake for Little One's first birthday party last year, and it was amazing. Hopefully it will be as good this year!

Re-reading : Susanna Kearsley's "Season of Storms" which is one of my favourite of her novels. The story is set in a villa in Northern Italy, where a group of actors are preparing to perform a almost forgotten, and mysterious play. The night before the original staging, in the early 1900s, the leading lady disappeared. Now, the actors and director are defying fate by trying to stage this unlucky play again. Of course, there is intrigue, love and danger, all connected to the mystery of its original performance.

Thanksgiving and Autumnal Resolutions

Jane Heinrichs October 10, 2016

Gratitude takes nothing for granted, it is never unresponsive, it is constantly awakening to new wonder…

Thomas Merton

The sun is streaming into my studio window but there is a crisp chill in the air. I’m wrapped up in an oversized hoodie and sipping my second cup of decaf coffee.

We may not notice the hours and days whizzing by, or feel the earth turning under our feet, but one day we look up from our to-do lists and notice that the trees are turning colour.

This is the time to turn over a new leaf, so to speak.

Ever since school, I've taken time to make a few personal resolutions in the autumn. These resolutions always seem more spiritually motivated and positive than the resolutions made in the thinness of January (when I'm feeling worn out and slightly desperate). Autumnal resolutions hold the lushness of harvest festivals in their heart.

If January resolutions are about conquering our wills; October resolutions are about nurturing our authentic needs.

I am between illustration jobs at the moment, which means I have time to focus on my personal creative development. I have re-dedicated myself to writing 500 words per day (they can be crappy, ungrammatical and misspelled, but I have to get them down), and doing daily drawings. I'm hoping that sticking to this routine will prime my mind for new ideas, rather like doing scales on the piano makes the fingers nimble enough to play the most difficult notes. Creative inspiration is a habit; it is the pen moving across the page that creates ideas, not bright flashes from above.

Are you making any resolutions for the changing of the seasons? What are they?

And, here is a small list of the things I’m grateful for this very moment:

1. The bouquets of coloured pencils brightening the corner of my desk.

2. A bookshelf full of books (all old friends).

3. Illustration work that is exciting, challenging and fulfilling.

4. My husband and daughter, who fill every day with joy and laughter.

5. And a few frivolous things: new night cream, freshly polished winter boots, warm flannel blankets, my iphone (how could I survive without it?)

What are you grateful for?

A month in review: August

JaneA September 1, 2016

Where did August go?

In the next few weeks the seasons flip from summer to autumn. It's still hot, but there's a crispness to the air that makes me want to buy school supplies. I think once my BIG illustration project is finished I'll take an inventory of my art supplies and refresh the stock. Some of my brushes are over a decade old, and are very well-loved (which means they are frayed beyond repair and can hardly hold a point any more.)

I've been fishing fallen leaves from the water in our bird bath, and the heather bush in the corner of our garden is blushing with the promise of deep pink buds (which will only bloom sometime in mid- winter).

For most of this month it was too hot to do anything but the essentials: look after Little One and furiously paint illustrations for the deadline coming up in early September.

Highlights for August:

1. Getting bedside tables delivered (after six months of balancing my book and water glass on a storage box)

2. Making the boxes from the aforementioned beside tables into a two-room house for Little One.

3. Running through the sprinkler with Little One on hot afternoons.

4. Sharing conversation with close friends around the braai (bbq)

5. The heat? I'm not sure I enjoyed it that much, but it was remarkable.

6. Watching the Olympics with Little One. "Go Tanda!" she shouted. (Translation: Go Canada!)

{The house: Little One inside, Trudy outside}

Books read:

1. Villette by Charlotte Brontë

2. The Piano Shop on the Left Bank by T. E. Carhart

The Age of Lead

by Margaret Atwood (this is actually a short story: worth reading)

4. Women in Love by D H Lawrence

By the numbers:

4: Braais. We love marinated chicken skewers, herb-dusted halloumi, corn on the cob, salad, garlic bread and of course, ice cream for dessert.

30: Kilometers walked. Yikes! No wonder my legs ache before I go to sleep.

16: Pages of my journal filled.

3: Submissions sent.

1: Gallery visited. I sat at stared at St Francis of Assisi in Meditation by Francisco de Zubaran for an hour in the National Gallery.

{Van Dyke Brown: one of my favourite colours}

August Stats:

Instagram

: 494

Bloglovin: 916

Come follow along!

Posts from Past Augusts:

Let's paint the town

Not so daily drawings

The Prairie Wind bustles down the street

Houseplants in London

How I write

When is a bookshelf not a bookshelf?

Adventures in the Netherlands

My grandmother's garden

Selling in Spitalfields Market

Goals for September:

Seeing this big project coming to an end has inspired me to think about what to do next. I feel that the writing part of my life has been neglected recently. Most of you know the illustrating side of my life, as I share it quite freely here, but did you know that I love writing just as much?

My goals for the month:

+ Enjoy our holiday in Greece! Yay! I can't wait to sketch the cerulean Mediterranean and the whitewashed houses clinging to the rocky hills.

+ Write. Write. Write. Anything. I've finished a short story, which is now on the submission rounds. What to write next? Perhaps a bundle of blog posts?

+ Daily drawings. Because they're like yoga for my fingers and my creative mind.

Are you writing a monthly review post? Feel free to share a link below in the comments. Let’s celebrate our accomplishments!

{Almost daily walks along the Thames}

A month in review: July

JaneA August 1, 2016

How can I summarize a month of such extremes? July spanned two continents, two homes, two different experiences of summer, and one long journey of flights and connections across a very wide, very cold ocean.

Through the changes and opposites, one thing has remained a constant: family. This month started with a family reunion which gathered all 40 of my aunts, uncles, cousins, and their spouses and children, on Hecla Island in the middle of Lake Winnipeg. We sang songs, breaking into spontaneous four part harmony whilst playing games or hiking. We hugged. We laughed. We cried. And we hated saying goodbye when the weekend ended.

The day after, we flew home to London. We returned back to our small home, on our little street, right near the vastness of Richmond Park. We recentered. We made our beds. We settled into the routines of our small nucleus.

Family, big or small, was what July was about.

Top 5 Highlights for July:

1. The family weekend on Hecla Island with all 40 aunts, uncles and cousins.

2. Seeing the walls of our walls stripped of peeling wallpaper and freshly plastered and painted.

3. Returning to my studio and my ongoing projects. I have fresh inspiration from three weeks away.

4. Splashing in the pool with Little One, and helping her down the toddler slide. She loves the water.

5. The London heat wave. While not exactly my favourite experience, it was certainly memorable!

Books read:

1. A desperate fortune by Susanna Kearsley

2. The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins (this one was too dark for me to finish.)

By the numbers:

2.5 + 7: Hours in an airplane with an sleepy and slightly grumpy toddler.

2: Hours in Toronto airport trying to stretch our legs and letting Little One run around shouting "Ah-blane!" (airplane)

5: Rooms that are like new in our house with fresh, smoothly painted walls

7: Amazing, multi-petalled clematis blossoms in our garden

17: sketches in my moleskine sketchbook (check my Instagram to follow along as I fill the pages.)

May Stats:

Instagram

: 489 (+3)

Bloglovin: 903 (+4)

Facebook

: 946 (+1)

Twitter

: 507 (same)

Mailing List: 402 (sign-up in sidebar for bi-monthly updates and freebies!)

(Please pick your favourite platform and come follow along!)

Posts from Past Julys:

Window Boxes in London

Today is Monochromatic

Taking care of small things

Adventures in Johannesburg

Goals for August:

Returning to my studio has been refreshing. After three weeks away I have new eyes for the big project that needs finishing. The deadline is looming, so I'm working every minute I can.

My goals for the month:

+ Finish as much of my current illustration project as possible. It's contractually due Sept 1, but I'm sure I would have a little wiggle room if I needed it.

+ Write. Edit. Write. Repeat. I've completed writing the first draft of a short story, which now needs careful rewriting and editing. I'm looking forward to weighing every word.

+ Daily drawings. Because they're like yoga for my fingers and my creative mind.

+ Dedication to blogging. I love this little space. I love you, my dear reader. You make my little studio above the kitchen feel like it's connected to a world of friendly people. I want to connect more with you. What do you want to read about? Tell me. I will write it.

Are you writing a monthly review post? Feel free to share a link below in the comments. Let’s celebrate our accomplishments!

MONTHLY REVIEW JUNE 2016

JaneA July 1, 2016

June was a month for slowing down.

The roses and peonies were in bloom. The days were sunny and warm (but not yet the sweltering heat of mid-summer). Our smiles widened, our laughter rang between the trees, our hearts opened wide to the delights of fresh blueberries and ice cream, and barbecues in the long evenings.

This June Little One and I flew to Canada together to spend time with my mom. We're resting, napping, and running around in the back yard. It's wonderful to reconnect with family after so many years. And to imagine many more such summers to come.

Top 5 Highlights for June:

1. Spending time with my mom in my home town in Canada.

2. Baking some delicious banana bread to share with friends and neighbours.

3. Planting jasmine, lavender, clematis and box hedge in our garden.

4. Having

babyccinos

mommyccinos

and

grandmaccinos

at the local coffee shop with my daughter and my mom.

5. Watching thunderstorms roll across the Canadian prairies. They rumble through town in the evenings, and the next morning the air is so fresh and clear, like it's been scrubbed clean by the rain.

Books read:

1. A house with four rooms by Rumer Godden

2. Tell it Slant by Brenda Miller and Suzanne Paola

3. The Fairy Tale Girl by Susan Branch

4. Martha's Vineyard: Isle of Dreams by Susan Branch

5. A Fine Romance by Susan Branch

6. Everything Belongs by Richard Rohr

{Looking at this I realize I haven't read any fiction this month! I'll have to focus on fiction in July.}

By the numbers:

8: Hours in an airplane with an active, curious toddler

3: Hour nap for toddler on the above flight (yay!)

1: New boiler installed in our house

3: playdates (and fun coffee times for the moms)

60: cups of decaf coffee (Or more, at least two per day. Is this something I need to reduce?)

11: sketches in my moleskine sketchbook (check my Instagram to follow along as I fill the pages.)

May Stats:

Instagram

: 485 (+13)

Pinterest:

141 (+2)

Bloglovin: 898 (+4)

Facebook

: 945 (+3)

Twitter

: 507 (same)

Mailing List: 401 (sign-up in sidebar for bi-monthly updates and freebies!)

(Please pick your favourite platform and come follow along!)

Posts from Past Junes:

The Diamond Jubilee in Pictures

Unleashing your Inner Creativity

In my Cape Town studio

Reinventing the Resume

Goals for July:

We will be holidaying in Canada for a good portion of July, so I intend to enjoy every moment. I want to slow down and listen to my heartbeat. I want to chase my little one around the yard, and roll around in the grass.

Other than that, I want to:

+ re-invorgate my daily drawing habit while I’m on holiday. Stay tuned for lots of sketches of the great Canadian prairies.

Are you writing a monthly review post? Feel free to share a link below in the comments. Let’s celebrate our accomplishments!

Un-planning my life

JaneA June 15, 2016

The other day, in the late afternoon, Little One and I listened to the complete piano sonatas by Mozart at top volume.

The day had been chaotic, and I hoped that the soothing tones and rhythms would quell the thirtieth (or was it fiftieth?) toddler-tantrum of the day.

So, we listened, we took deep breaths and we read a story.

We floated on the music for half an hour, and then started the quiet ritual of bath, dinner and bed.

It was the simple act of letting go, just for a moment, that changed the tenor of the day.

The afternoon before had sat down with my journal, determined to plan my life "once and for all." I turned to the next blank page and drew bullet points down the left-hand side. This was to be my "list to end all lists." I was finally going to feel like I was leading my life, instead of it leading me.

I sipped my decaf.

I stared at the blank page.

I wrote two, maybe three ideas down.

And then I realized something important.

I write the same lists, day after day, week after week. I write them because I think they're going to help me feel more in control and more accomplished. But they don't: so I repeat the process over and over.

But... lists are flat.

There are linear.

They don't, in fact they

can't

, reflect the messy, three-dimensional complexities of life. So, I write list after list in an attempt to control the chaos, but instead they make me feel more frenzied and frustrated.

I have decided that this summer we are going to follow rhythms instead of lists. We are going to float with the ebb and flow of the day. We are going to sleep when we're tired, drink when we're thirsty, eat when we're hungry, and dance when we're happy. We will run in the rain and bask in the sunshine.

All those bullet points on my lists were like a sack of bricks slung over my shoulder. It is liberating to let them go.

I will listen to beautiful music and let go. I will daydream and let go. I will draw and write and let go. The folding and scrubbing will happen (as they always do), but I won't spend time dwelling about them, or writing detailed schedules for them.

I am finding, when I let go, even cleaning can become a kind of meditation.

This week I am un-planning my life.

What are you doing?

MONTHLY REVIEW MAY 2016

JaneA June 1, 2016

We’re almost half-way through the year (where did the time go?), and I’ve decided that I’m going to start posting monthly reviews on my blog to help me count the hours, one by one, for the remaining months.

Life can be pretty crazy, especially with an adorable, energetic, curious, insistent toddler underfoot. It’s so easy to run on the daily treadmill of tasks, to-dos, and routines without taking time to step back and remember the wonderful moments, and look forward to the things I am planning for the future.

I recently

wrote a post

saying that I refused to use the word “busy.” It’s so easy to glorify being “busy” for the sake of it.

It can become the reflex answer for almost every question.

How was May?

Oh, it was

busy.

Of course it was.

But busy doesn’t explain anything. Busy belittles the accomplishments and undermines the real, valuable work we’ve been doing.

So, rather than busy, let's say May has been a full, rich month....

Top 5 Highlights for May:

1. Cycling with my husband and daughter to admire the thousands of rhododendron bushes in the Isabella Plantation in Richmond Park. (see photo above)

2. Having coffee with a wonderful friend at the British Library.

3. Sending out my first “Studio Friends” mailing list email. Every two months I’m going to share studio updates and links to free printable I’ve designed. (Feel free to sign up in the sidebar! I’m planning to design a series of

yoga cards

for the next instalment.)

4. Starting to edit a novel that I had put aside for a few years. Now that I’m looking at it with fresh eyes I can see its strengths, but also where it needs to improve.

5. Designing our garden.

Books read:

1. A notable woman — the journals of Jean Lucy Pratt.

2. Diary of a wimpy kid by Jeff Kinney

3. Madam will you talk by Mary Stewart.

Simple Matters

by Erin Boyle.

By the numbers:

2: Museums visited (National Gallery and British Library)

1: Birthday party attended.

2: runs through Richmond Park (more like run, walk, run, walk, walk…

walk…....

walk.....

)

11: illustrations painted for the Mattie’s Magic Dreamworld series

4: sketches in my moleskine sketchbook (check my Instagram to follow along as I fill the pages.)

{My progress chart for the Mattie books}

Yoga Pose for the month:

Every morning I do a sun salutation to get my body moving, and prepare my mind for the day.

If I have time and energy I often add other favourite yoga stretches into the routine to push my mind and body in different directions. However, I've started to get into a groove (not quite a rut) with the poses I choose. So, I've decided that I want to focus on a new pose each month for the rest of the year.

This month’s pose is:

Camel Pose

or Ustrasana. When I do it I can feel my chest expanding, and my heart opening up to the world.

May Stats:

Instagram

: 472

Pinterest:

139

Bloglovin: 894

Facebook

: 942

Twitter

: 507

Mailing List: 412 (sign-up in sidebar for bi-monthly updates and freebies!)

(Please pick your favourite platform and come follow along!)

Blog Posts:

Mantras for this moment

My week in verbs

How to make work easy OR six necessary things

Get your hands on some free printables

Goals for June:

June is a month I’ve been joyfully anticipating for a while. We’re flying to Manitoba to spend time with my mom and my extended family. It is my goal to enjoy every minute. Even the jet lag. Even flying with a toddler.

Other than that, I want to:

+ finish the first draft of my current writing project before I fly.

+ have a good portion of “Mattie” painted so that I can take three weeks off work without feeling panicky about it.

+ re-invorgate my daily drawing habit while I’m on holiday. Stay tuned for lots of sketches of the great Canadian prairies.

I keep my intentions and goals on track by having a double-page spread dedicated to lists and brain-storming at the beginning of each month in my planner. It’s like my landing page. Every time I open my planner I check back with my monthly page to see how I’m doing with my goals and plans.

Are you writing a monthly review post? Feel free to share a link below in the comments. Let’s celebrate our accomplishments!