I had a plan to write at least three times a month with posts about reading and books. I even had a virtual cozy bookstore and reading nook with coffee and tea in that virtual space.

And then I just stopped writing. The words weren’t there; the “need” to write wasn’t there. So, I stopped. I kept reading, but I didn’t share.

In fact, a lot of the creative outlets I had enjoyed since retirement were silent. I took up junk journaling. I play with paper and glue and ink and occasionally textiles almost daily. In fact, as I write today, I have a small stack of printable ephemera in my lap tray ready to cut and make some ATCs (artist trading cards) to use in my journals. I worked on a mini journal earlier this morning and completed several pages (they are about the size of a 3 by 5 index card).

The extremely hot summer made outdoor photography almost nonexistent. I did enroll in the Ritual and Rhythms practice circle through the Kinship Photography Collective in the spring, and I love the group I’m in and the prompts our facilitator sends out each week. There are three parts–a weekly ritual, a writing prompt, and a photography prompt. The writing prompts have been especially meaningful and helpful to me as a writer, a mother/grandmother, a wife, a woman. I look forward to the weekly sessions with five other creative women.

Beginning this week, I want to share some of the photographs and writing I am doing for this year. Each week I create a Google Slides presentation with my images and words. I will have to do something a bit different to share here in this space. I may also share some images of my journals.

And I will try to share the reading I’m doing as well. (I may need to make a schedule for these posts and put them in my day planner, which, by the way, is a hybrid planner/junk journal).

So, I am back. I am finding that creative side again that had gone dormant for a while.