doodle a little

I love to collect notebooks, journals, pads of paper, even 3x5 cards. I keep a little stash of 3x5s in my wallet so I always have something to write on. Notebooks are everywhere.

I want to fill my notebooks, but sometimes I just can't think of anything to write. I'm so weary of my journals and how they drone on with the same old stuff that I always write about...the old angst about myself that's so tiresome. So, I went online and found lots of information about "what to write when there's nothing to write." One website suggested you open your journal every day and start by making a sketch. The simple act of putting pen to paper will get you started, and the words will come once the drawing is finished.

That's laughable. I can't draw...not even stick figures. But I am VERY inspired by the art journals of many artists/writers. Especially Mary Ann Moss who blogs at Dispatch from LA. So I decided to try the suggested sketching/writing exercise by copying a sketch from Mary Ann's blog that I like so much. 

I went to the blog and found a little flower to draw. Turns out, my little flower looks nothing like the one on Dispatch from LA. OK, it's a disaster. The flower was too difficult for me. I need something easier to sketch. Something with simple graphics. I need to doodle...not draw. I remembered my favorite Orla Kiely notebooks and the simple leaf design that I love. I turned to a new page in my notebook and copied the simple leaf design onto my page. Yes, that's more my style...doodling rather than drawing, and the colors make me happy. I then wrote about an interesting experience that happened yesterday.

Here's my doodle:

And here's what I wrote:

Sometimes when you least expect it, a good thing happens that just changes your outlook and puts a spring in your step. That kind of thing happened to me yesterday. I had been helping my mom with errands she needed and the day was fading fast. I took her home after an hour in a dress shop in the mall trying on tops and sweaters. Then another slow walk through Bath and Body Works to buy soap. After I took her home, I decided to grab a Diet Coke at the gas station. I needed energy because in a short hour and a half, I had to go back to mom's and take her to a birthday party for her longtime friend, Iva Lou, I filled my soda cup and approached the cash register where a big, scruffy college guy was working as clerk. He jumped from his perch on the counter, smiled, and said, "So what are you doing today...anything fun?" I said (kind of woefully), "Oh, I'm taking my 85-year-old mother to her friend's 90th birthday party at an old folks' home." He said cheerfully, "That sounds fun." I replied, "Not really." And then the unexpected sentence that sent me out the door with a smile on my face. The young man shared this attitude-altering suggestion: "Just look at it this way...you'll be the youngest one there!" And then he grinned at me.