While it might not be spring yet, this is a good time of year to declutter your physical space, mind and spirit. Not too long ago I drew an oracle card from an animal deck given to me as a gift years ago. The essence of the message was to declutter. But not just your workspace or your home. Take a day off from the clutter of social media, it said. Easier said.

So I begin with paper. After finishing my taxes, I rifle through all the papers I've saved and get rid of most of them to start the year clean. Then there is that box in the closet. My journals.

I've had a daily journaling practice for decades. It's now so much a part of my daily self care routine, that I can't imagine a day without it. It would be like not brushing my teeth. I'd just feel yucky all day. But what to do with those hundreds of spiral bound pages?

This year I took the box of 2023 journals to my studio. I flipped through them, tried not to get too engrossed in the stories  (Why was I so worried  about THAT? How many pages did I devote to this issue?), and tore out a few pages from different journals. At  this point I'm looking at the pages more esthetically: color of ink, quality of the paper, any drawings.

Setting a goal of 6 12x12 wood panels, I incorporated my journal pages into mixed media art. A snapshot of 2023; and a chance to play with mixed media. It was a wonderful experiment to tear and add pages to the wood. Layering with paint, tissue, magazine pictures and stenciling, each panel seemed to tell a story; had its own theme.

When I was finished, I felt like I spring cleaned 2023. There were treasures and sorrow and bounds of creativity. It was a good year.

You can see the results on my website under the Journal Pages collection.

What happened to the ripped apart leftover journals? My journals are for me alone. And I don't wish to burden my survivors with dealing with them at some later date.  I bless them. Wrap them in a garbage bag and send them to wherever garbage is laid to its final rest. A hundred years from now will someone find them on an archeological dig in a landfill? I hope not. May they rest in peace.