A muse is a source of inspiration. One who muses thinks, meditates, dreams, marvels and wonders. For me, a muse can be human or part of creation or something that develops in my imagination. Since I believe that I am created by a marvellous Creator, I know that He creates in me pure inspiration. The one who creates in me a pure heart, also promises that I will see Him. And I do. I see God in nature, other people, and creative expressions that can come in the form of music, literature, paintings, drawings, doodles, films, TV shows, commercials, ads in magazines and social media. Creativity can be witnessed in computer programming, in inventions to save lives and make life easier, in the home and in the market, in small towns and big cities, in civic organizations and in churches. Creativity has no bounds. As an artist, I find pleasure in the process and in the expression of my art. I believe everyone can be an artist, but not everyone wants to be an artist. Artists enjoy each others’ art. Most people enjoy art to some extent. My journey into art making was born out of creative interests. I have always been interested in making things. Childhood pursuits included crayons and coloring books, paste and construction paper, fabric and thread, printing with leaves and plants, building forts in the woods, imagining other worlds in books and in my mind. I enjoyed my art classes in elementary and high school. (We didn’t really have middle school, it was considered junior high.) I even took a jewelry making class one semester. As a career homemaker, I created all kinds of things and messes. I shared creativity with our sons through crafts, cooking and sewing. We took them to museums, musicals and into the great outdoors. I always wanted to be a writer, and discovered over time that I AM a writer. I went to college for personal enrichment and to hone my writing skills. I discovered that I loved theatre, all aspects. I graduated and thought I would start writing my great American novel, but instead I kept writing devotions. A practice that I started in 2000, as a call to “write words for the weary” (Isaiah 50:4) Blogging became popular, and I started a blog at xanga.com (anyone remember, that?) Then blogger and now wordpress. Why am I chronicling this journey? Because I am marvelling at how I uncovered the truth that I AM an artist. And what do artists do? They make things. They explore, discover, take journeys, enjoy adventures and then SHARE these things with others. Why do artists share? For the pure joy of expression. So today, I will share some of the things I have been making, while living on Intuition.Create in me a pure heart, O God,
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.(Matthew 5:8 NIV)
and renew a steadfast spirit within me. (Psalm 51:10 NIV)
I brought a few journals with me. One to write in. One to glue fodder from our trip to its pages. A small one for my purse. A small one to make mini-collages. And since beginning this journey, I made a journal out of recycled greeting cards and a couple mini-journals that I use as inspiration “projects.” I would consider all of these various containers to be my “art” journals. The pages are places where I muse, where I experiment, where I express, where I play with media, where I practice my art. (And I brought a planner, which I bought from the Catholic supply store online, because I like to follow the liturgical year. Not that I’m making any plans at the moment.)
I find a lot of inspiration from other artsy, creative journal keepers. In January, two of my favorite muses have offered daily prompts to explore the creative sources within. Dawn Paoletta offers 21 Days of Journaling in January for pure writing joy, with a couple art prompts thrown in for diversity.
Here’s a prompt, I finished the other day. “If I ruled the world . . . every day, every one would share adventures and see dolphins grace the sea.”
My other muse this month is Lisa Sonora Beam. She has a free month of journal prompts designed around the theme: FLOW. You can find her inspiration here.
For this project, I made the greeting card journal, which I learned from Jenniebellie. Look for her video tutorials on YouTube. She also has free workshops (Inspiration Station) and a monthly challenge here.
Here is the cover and some pages from my FLOW journal:
One of the prompts from this challenge was “The opposite of going astray is . . .” And this was my response:
“The opposite of going astray is choosing ADVENTURE!”
How would you finish either of the prompts that I shared today?
If I ruled the world . . .
OR
The opposite of going astray is . . .
That’s enough for TODAY! I will share some more artsy and beachy adventures soon!
souldare 
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