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Life creation

In September, I filmed my daily journalling entries in my Spring 30 Day Journal Project. My creative progress had suffered under winter conditions and I wanted to immerse back into my journal. Visual journalling has been a powerful creative tool and way of understanding my inner world as not always needing to work in words means I can visually journal what I don’t yet know.

Since then, I have been journalling every day again, often multiple times a day and in between I am thinking about journalling! One of my teachers, Lisa Sonora taught me about asking myself potent questions. These are the questions that get to the very heart of myself. I am currently writing up the content for my first online journalling course, a dream I have had for many years, after I received so much joy, creative learning and connection in the online space. My journal is supporting me to ask the questions I most want answers to and holds a creative space to build a dream.

Visual Journal page – Why do I Visual Journal? – Michelle Casserley 20 Oct 2022

The journal spread above was a response to the question “Why do I visual journal”. I selected a range of materials from my supplies. I moved intuitively, picking items that my body said “yes!” to and then starting with some of the bigger background pieces and gluing them in. Both larger pieces were artworks harvested from magazines. The words also had came from magazines. When I get a collection of magazines, from the charity shops or as donations from others, I will go through them with my ruler, tearing out any pictures and words that catch my eye and store ready for a journalling session.

I LOVE alphabet stickers and stamps! I have used the stickers here for “creating my life!“. A little recycled cellophane bag from a 1000 Hearts purchase was stuck on the page and inside is a monotype printed paper with journalling on the blank side, then folded. A handmade Artist Trading Card saying “You are the miracle” hole-punched and ribbons tied on to embellish. I have used washi tape strips, added hand written words and finished the page with a date stamp. As Lisa has suggested, I mostly work on random pages in my book, moving away from the linear European left-to-right format so the date on my spreads means I can easily identify when I did things. Also…stamps are fun!

Writing up the course in my visual journal is the best way for me to create. Keeping the creative musings and collections in such a colourful and fun way means I can move out of my intellectual thinking space and into being which is where all creation really sits. I am currently reaching out to connect with some of the artists I shared Lisa’s Facilitator Training with in 2015. What a joy it is to have practicing artists in my life that live all around the world. I am so grateful for these connections. I am excited to bring this project to life, reach out if you would like to know more about visual journalling.

What do you want to create?

All the Small Things

One of my art teachers, Hali Karla suggested to me that when I am working creatively, when I get stuck to try going big or going small. I found this idea quite intriguing and also very useful and I have enjoyed expanding this into everyday life. If I am looking at the big picture too much, I come back to smaller parts, and if I am poring over the details of life, I lift my head up to the bigger vision.

I swim almost every morning in the ocean in our local pontoon. Being an observer in this watery world is fascinating and there is always something new to see. Lots of big creatures to be sure, sea stars, fish of many varieties, and crabs galore. I have recently purchased a camera which can operate underwater and my world has expanded. I am able to get both macro and micro views on the larger creatures and see detail on tiny critters I hadn’t noticed before.

Taking time to notice all the little things has brought up more curiosity about all the things I cannot see. This reminds me that I am also one of the small things and am a little part of a huge organic process. Looking outside myself keeps my life in perspective, so I remember to work on the things I have control over and be wise enough to let go of all the things I cannot change.

Port Lincoln Pontoon

Micro detail on 11 armed sea star

SALT FESTIVAL 2021

Wow, what a wild ride this years SALT festival was! After a year that we had, it felt so wonderful to share so many different activities and ideas with so many different people for ten full days. The creative endeavours we all shared in were beautiful, and the conversations, connections and the fusion of ideas that keep on giving are the biggest gift to me.

I loved being able to share drum circles, art workshops and heart workshops with many bright and beautiful souls. I am opening up more workshops for May and there will be more upcoming. The link below will connect you to my eventbrite page for information on workshops and ticket links. I have some drum circles and art workshops booked in and there will be some dates for Circle of Security Parenting upcoming, and also Friday Drawing Club will be happening. Reach out to connect and to get more information ❤

Eventbrite bookings here:

https://www.eventbrite.com/o/michelle-casserley-33224600515

Highlights of SALT 2021

https://www.facebook.com/SALTFESTIVAL/videos

Uncomfortable can still be Safe

One of the most powerful concepts I learnt with my counsellor was the idea of getting comfortable with feeling uncomfortable.

Trauma triggers can have us feeling unsafe any time we feel uncomfortable in a situation, even if we are actually safe. Learning to stretch our comfort zones is so important as we get to practice courage. Courage is not the absence of fear, just feeling the fear and doing it anyway. Of course, we need to make sure the situation is safe, and it is our triggered anxieties making us feel unsafe, not our reality.

When we keep practicing stretching through this fear, it builds our confidence in our ability to assess situations based on reality. Then it is about learning to manage our fears. It is important to start small. For me in the past, it could be pushing myself to go into certain shops which had previously triggered anxiety. Even something that is relatively small can take some practice to feel safe in. In this way we are training our brain to perceive things differently and interrupt that anxiety cycle.

Being comfortable with feeling uncomfortable takes time, and with constant high anxiety levels, I needed a counsellor to support me with these changes. This way I had someone who supported my developing assessment abilities. Sometimes, situations we had normalised, like domestic or family violence, can actually be very unsafe and our therapist may refer to specialist services like our local Yarredi Services for further support.

With practice, support and time, we find ourselves doing things that at one point seemed impossible. Your GP can often be a good place to start for a Mental Health Care Plan if your anxiety is overwhelming, and we are fortunate in Port Lincoln to have a range of high quality services ready and willing to support us to grow.

Go gently with yourselves, we learn faster with kindness and compassion ❤

Joelle Henskche – counsellor – https://joellehentschkecounselling.com.au/

Centacare Catholic Country SA – https://www.cccsa.org.au/

Positive Future Self – https://www.positivefutureself.com.au/

Country & Outback Health – https://cobh.com.au/location/port-lincoln/

West Coast Youth & Community Services – https://www.wcycs.com.au/

LifeLine – https://www.lifeline.org.au/

Yarredi Services (local DV/FV service) – https://www.yarredi.org.au/

1800 RESPECT – https://www.1800respect.org.au/

On the Journey

I always have a hard time starting…well almost anything really. Once I am warmed up, prepared, ready, I am good. That goes for conversations, activities, challenges. To start something new always seems so difficult, sometimes almost seems impossible and then it is underway and I wonder why it seemed so hard to begin.

Years ago, in the middle of therapy that felt painful and overwhelming and never ending, I discovered and fell in love with the archetype of the Hero’s Journey. Last year recovery felt like a long way away again, not at all achievable. A kind counsellor reminded me agin of this idea and I grabbed like a lifesaver. And maybe it was. It is often so hard to untangle the different threads of possible pathways that weave through our lives. Who knows where one story or thought begins, and ends.

I do know that once I remembered the concept of the Hero’s Journey, it re-inspired me, it gave me strength and reminded me that I had experienced seemingly impossible tasks before and I had achieved them, not just achieved them, but overcome them. Also being a gamer and a D&D player from way back, it just made good sense and I had a lot of beautiful imagery in my imagination to go with my stories. Success was possible.

I remember also from last time, that I was not quite the same person afterwards as when I started. I had become, transformed, changed into something I wasn’t before. I was strengthened but softer, reinforced but more flexible, aged but younger at heart. I had grasped the Hero’s Journey concept as a better way to look at grieving and repairing and it transformed me in a way I didn’t expect.