Looking back with thankfulness & the mixed beauty of Autumn

I meant to write this post during Thanksgiving, but instead am looking back in early December as I begin to look forward to the new year. Earlier in the fall, I started the rewarding experience of making a forest meadow journal to chronicle my experiences, beauty, and nature discoveries. You can find the first post as ‘Art in real life #3’ https://www.valeriesjodin.com/blog/art-in-real-life-3-forest-journal.

Finding beauty in the everyday and in the midst of decay

Being thankful and looking for beauty in the everyday is one of my top priorities for my personal well-being. Looking for encouraging quotes help with that:

Gratitude can transform common days into thanksgivings, turn routine jobs into joy, and change ordinary opportunities into blessings.
William Arthur Ward

What if today, we were just grateful for everything?
Charlie Brown

We must find the time to stop and thank the people who make a difference in our lives.
John F. Kennedy

Enjoy the little things, for one day you may look back and realize they were the big things.
Robert Brault

Autumn seems to be the shortest season, at least from my point of view. I find it also the most beautiful, with life coming into fullness and shining in a blaze of glory before it fades into the cold darkness of winter. It makes me consider the season of life that I’m in - Autumn, with all the fleeting beauty, possibility, and decay, all at the same time. Making the most of each moment is emphasized right now. It is a time of holding opposites, and a season of change.

“Autumn embraces change,
even as she is falling to pieces.”

Angie Weiland-Crosby

This year I’ve often traveled a whole day, driving from the constraints of the city to the freedom of the mountains. Walking through the seasons, literally walking in the forest, is teaching me new things about navigating the season I’m in.

As fall grows to a close, Winter is drawing near. Contrasts are emphasized this time of year: the lightness of snow and the heavy grayness of rain, short days and long nights etc. It is time to focus on what matters and make the most of the moment.

One way I cope with change and sadness is to create. Taking photos of nature on my walks and then painting from them brings back the memory and helps me stop to notice the quality of light and subtle beauty missed if just casually passing by. Below shows the photos taken and pages painted in my Nature journal.

More on the Nature Journal

Making this particular journal was a learning experience and I would do a few things differently. At the same time, I am happy with the results and its versatility as a travelers style journal. Knotted bands were put in the binding to hold pages in the journal that can be taken out. The beads are glued on the ends of the knots, giving it a more finished look.

For the watercolor pages I tore pages from a sheet of 22x30” hot press paper. The pages can be taken out, then painted and put back in. I won’t sew the section together until the pages are all filled. Below shows the pages painted out of the journal and then put in the journal.

The page inserted below is the center of the section held in by the elastic band. I’ve planned for three folded pages for each section (season) of the journal.

The page shown below was painted on the back of the one shown above. The page on the left it is outside the journal and put in the journal on the right photo below.

Changing times & seasons

Usually during this time of year on my blog, I talk about my word of the year and a new journal. This coming year will be a bit different. I have a new word for 2023 that is being added to the word for 2022. More about that in a later post.

If you are looking for inspiration for a word of the year or beginning a calendar-planner journal that include the word of the year, I have numerous past blog posts about that in the blog menu and two in particular are listed below.

Blessings of beauty in the season you’re in!

Valerie

Some helpful posts on choosing a word for the year and setting up a journal

Choosing a word for the year: https://www.valeriesjodin.com/blog/choosing-word-of-year-ideas-questions
Organizing a word of the year + questions & prompts: https://www.valeriesjodin.com/blog/how-to-plan-organize-word-of-year-bullet-journal