Last month we had a brand new theme for this 5th year of A Layer A Day challenges: language. This theme was suggested by the very long time Butterfly member Ingrid and it was such a good one! So many new insights thanks to the simple fact of putting down some layers in a our journals.
Week 17: mothertongue
Whether you have been speaking the same one and only language since childhood or have grown up with several, there is so much to explore just looking at our mothertongue. I myself realized that as a child, growing up with 3 languages was indeed the source of some confusion even if it is now a huge blessing. It shows up in a spread that turned out completely different than what I do usually. In a good way!
Week 18: beautiful words
We all have those words that we love, because of how they sound or how they feel when we pronounce them or for so many other reasons.
I chose the word 'coquelicot', poppy in French. I have loved that word since I was a little child and used to be on the lookout when we were driving to spot them on the side of the road.
Making the spread made me realise I only kept the good part of that memory. It was actually my way of blocking out my arguing parents, which happend a lot, especially in the care making it worse as there was no escaping it. I just focussed on the flowers. It makes me love the word and the flower even more, as I feel so grateful I had their company in that time of need.
What started with a plan of a dreamy spread while visualizing the blury red spots on the green side of the road turned out very differently, helping me become aware of that hidden memory. Which is why I opted for the word 'monologue', remembering how I repeated the word 'coquelicot' in my head, hoping to spot the next batch of flower pressing my forehead to the car window.
Week 9: watch your tongue
Yes, we did have a look at that language too, the language where you actually should watch your tongue!
In french you are said to use 'bird names' when calling someone names. Even though the names used in those situations have obviously nothing to do with birds...
When I do feel the urge of calling someone birds names, which I never express to the concerned person, I always ask myself where that urge is coming from. In the end, those words only say something about me and how I'm handeling the situation...
Week 20: communication
Why do we use language? How do we communicate?
It is every year on my list of goals to continuasly focus on communicating with kindness and patience. And setting my intention for this spread made me realize: I rarely focus on how I communicate with me, myself and I. In some moments, I have no patience with myself whatsoever and call myself bird names. Yet when I hear f.e. my son do that I ask him to please not insult my beloved kiddo! So why do I allow myself to talk like that to... myself?
At the same time, I became aware that for some things, I cut myself the slack I would not cut for someone else. That is where the triangle came on the spread: my communication with me, myself and I deserves some attention and redirection.
Week 21: quote
We all love a good quote on our art journaling spreads, don't we? So we could not not have a week dedicated to it!
I have 3 butterfly related quotes that I love:
'You cannot talk butterfly language to caterpillar people'
'A butterfly is a caterpillar with a positive attitude'
'If nothing ever changed, there'd be no butterflies'
I knew how I wanted to start this spread: with my Neo stamp, colorizing him and having the colors spill on the rest of the spread. But then, this page came to be. I didn't know which quote I wanted to use at that point, I'd let the spread decide. Considering it is not the kind of spread I usually do, considering the big changes I'm working on behind the scenes for my company and for myself, it was just logical to go for the quote I went with.
It truly was a very interesting month!
Meanwhile we have started the June theme, which is string theory! Don't worry, you don't need any knowledge in physics to play along. You just need some enthusiasm to put down A Layer A Day... in a mindful way. Join us on the forum to play along! See you there
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