A Layer A Day November 🦋 overview
Hello beautiful Butterfly,
Origins was our theme for November and we had 5 challenges related to it. As I was away for a week, visiting my Dad in Greece, I had to miss one. There's no point cramping more into the days than time allows for and I am happy with the reflection I had the other 4 weeks on the theme. Here's an overview for you: in this blogpost I go deeper into the meaning of the spreads I have been sharing throughout the month of November for the A Layer A Day challenge. If you would like to have more insight in the how's, I invite you to join us for a hang out.
Week 43: ancestors
My starting point was this photo of my aunts and uncles. This was taken even before my dad was born. I thought about my interactions with them, when I was a child and today, how my parents interact(ed) with them. It made me realize so many things about myself. About how I see relationships and how I interact today! It made me connect with my inner child on a new level and helped me see habits and triggers I now have as a grown up. It took this spread and the eery birds that appeared on it to realize that those interactions weren't always as smooth as I wanted them to believe to be, even if I had a happy childhood and have many beautiful memories to look back to. The birds started as guardian angels, yet the eery touch appeared and made the interpretation shifted!
Week 44: dear 20 year old me
This was such a good continuation of the previous week! Armed with my new insights, I wanted to engage in a conversation with my 20 year old me, to tell her I now understood some of the difficulties we had back then, some of the choices we made. But as I added her on the page in the form of this Tim Holtz doll (who stands a bit self consciously and awkwardly), she kept hiding in the background. It took a lot of tenderness and compassion to keep her in the foreground. This doesn't mean letting go in victimization, just showing understanding and acceptance, for how things went, as well as for my reactions to it.
Week 45: cells
Thinking of this theme intrigued me, with how cells are our building blocks, each one an entity on its own, as well as a connection to other cells to become a new form and entity. This showed up in the circles and crosses. As I came accross this image of pods on some vintage paper, it made me think of how much of a never ending story our cells are, giving birth to new cells, over and over again.
Week 46: attitude of gratitude
I might have mentioned it once or twice, just how and why this is my favorite challenge of the year. This was the fifth year in a row we did this exact same challenge at the exact same time of the year (and we will do it again next year, just so you know 😉) and this year I wanted to take it a little bit further for myself: it has been a habit for years now, to write down 3 things daily in my gratitude log. But how about all the other moments of life, all the other moments throughout the day? It is easy to feel grateful receiving an unexpected hug from your teenage son. How about feeling grateful while doing the dishes? While carrying the groceries inside? I want to extend my feelings of gratitude to so much more. This spread was a reflection on just that. And I think my journal agrees, as a little heart appeared by magic on the left side. Can you spot it?
Week 47: future generations
this is when I was travelling... so I took this with me in my meditations. Not being able to put it on paper doesn't mean for me that I won't take time to ponder on it.
Just like being at the beginning of the end of this little art journal, we are now at the beginning of the end of the year. For me personally, this last month was one of the richest one in terms of the A Layer A Day bringing new insights. Which one was is for your, sweet Butterfly?
And if you are new to the challenge, remember that there is no better time to start than NOW! Join us on the forum, connect with like minded people while putting down A Layer A Day... in a mindful way. 🦋😘