Waking up this morning, a day off after a 12 hour day of parent teacher conferences, a slight bit of gloom weighs heavy on me. As an introvert, so much people time depletes my energy reserves and I need days of aloneness to restore and renew my supply.
My husband, chipper as a five year old on Christmas, skipped out this morning with buddies – an ice fishing trip until Monday. I have the house to myself for three whole days. Yet, every room of the house begs for my attention; dishes, laundry, bills, school work. I burrow into my bed a little longer than usual until our yellow lab, Sandy, comes into my bedroom and finds my elbow to lick.
After coffee, my notebook is pulled out. A few morning pages and then some creating is in store. A little doodling is all it takes to start refilling the well. Sometimes, I cut and glue and paint and design art journal pages on a Saturday morning, but today, a pen is all that is needed.
There is no end product in mind, just a process of doodling. Sometimes zentangle designs come up, sometimes it’s faces filled with a variety of expressions. I giggle a bit after each face as some characters come alive – or I come to the realization that I know that face in real life.
When I don’t know where to start, drawing what I’m wearing, including the emotions I might be carrying gets me going down the doodling path and stokes the fires a bit. My pen takes over with a mind of it’s own and I just follow it. An hour or so later, some heaviness is lifted and I feel ready to dig into my day.
Some people start their day with prayer. Some with writing (me, too) Some exercise. Others create their to-do lists. On my weekends, I start with art.
How about you? How do you restock the well?
Shari 🙂
I am participating in the Slice of Life challenge to write and publish a post every day in March.
Slice of Life is hosted by Two Writing Teachers. I thank them for the community they provide. Read more slices here.
Islands of My Soul 
YEAH! I start with meditation but try to make something before I leave for work. It does make a difference in my life. On the days that I do I feel better, on the days that I don’t I am itching to make something and when I get home I do before bed. YEAH to art. I agree that it makes everything better.
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Love this, Shari! I am envious of your art ability. We all need a way to rekindle the fire. I think drawing helps generate ideas and feelings for writing. I especially liked your second paragraph – the way you described your husband and being with your dog. Hope you enjoy your weekend alone!
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How I love finding just the post I need to read! I’ve been thinking a lot about refilling the well–cooking up a blog post at some point about it. Such a difficult thing to do, and I’m wondering why and wanting to reflect more on what I need. An unexpected two hour break today when I’ve gotten some much needed alone time has been spent writing in my notebook, watching my cats, breathing, listening, and now yoga.
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You have a wonderful way of drawing the reader in and keeping attention until the very last word. I, too, am very envious of your ability to create art. I can’t even draw a proper stick figure and would love to have this talent. Oh, well… gotta work with what I have. Over the past few years, I have truly committed to writing and find that it allows me to escape in a way I never could. Writing helps me to relax, renew, and respond to my world. With pen in hand, my well become full again!
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Love that you start the day with art Shari. I start mine with a walk or yoga, sometimes the meditation leads me to new art that I want to try. I smile looking at your faces and all the different expressions simply wonderful. Kath.
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You had me thinking with this slice. I just finished two days of conferences and never realized one of the reasons they are so exhausting for me is that I am an introvert too. All of that time in intense conversation is so draining (even though I love having the time to share learning). Your art is so fun! I wish I could refresh via art- for me it is reading.
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Just the idea of starting the day by filling up the well sounds magical. I start my day by wishing for another hour of sleep. Then I’m off and running…to the shower, to the closet, to the kid’s bedrooms, to the kitchen for breakfast, etc. I really need to fill my well…maybe I’ll try some doodling! A little reading might be nice too.
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Lovely. I don’t think I could sit still long enough – only when I am reading! But I love the idea of this . . .
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This sounds like such a lovely way to start the day and a wonderful way to renew yourself. Have a wonderful weekend.
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loved your blog. I want to see the whole picture that you drew of yourself on lined paper. Made me smile.
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Ah, an empty house after conferences. That is brilliant! I wish I could pull that off. 🙂
This line, “drawing what I’m wearing, including the emotions”, is such a great idea for my doodlers and drawers. I am just reading “Making Writing” and adding this idea is a great addition as I think more about how to allow students to ‘make’ writing rather than ‘do’ writing. If they made their characters (via whatever medium they chose), including the characters feelings, I wonder if they would have a more solid foundation from which to write. Thanks for the inspiration.
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I LOVE that idea, Kristi! Giving our kids permission to sketch out their characters lets them see them visually before describing them in writing. Thank you for taking time to read my slice!
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You are so very talented. To me, looking at your drawing makes me wish I could draw. I can doodle. Doodle all day long and I used to do it a ton. Doodling soothes my soul. It never looks like art but it is very refreshing. Recently, I read about literacy teachers learning to draw basic items and ideas to create anchor charts with kids. I think I will work a bit on it.
My daughter is an introvert and as a teenager she usually comes home and announces that she needs a people free weekend. Which hurts my heart b/c I have been aching to talk to her all week. But I think part if it, most of it, is that she is a 14 year-old girl.
I refresh by laying in the bed, or reading, or listening to live music. Like you, every room in my house needs my attention and I would love to have a people-free house for the weekend but no such luck for me! I can’t wait for Spring Break!
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You need to buy the book The Doodle Revolution by Sunni Brown! Anyone can draw. Our minds tell us we can’t. It sounds like we have a lot in common – especially our neglected houses. 🙂 Thank you for the comment!
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It’s inspiring to read how many of you unwind … I believe that ‘me time’ is so important for all of us but sadly it’s easy to ‘get busy’ with life and neglect ourselves. I try to be more intentional to take a few minutes off to do something that will make me happy. In my case is reading in my home language and listening to a podcast in that language too. It’s a needed break for sure.
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