face your intentions

Courtney Putnam of Rising Bird Healing Arts in Seattle is one of those people that I feel like is an old friend even though I have actually never met her. That’s what happens when you follow someone’s art and blog for several years. She invited me to do this really fun exercise she called Face Your Intentions, and I thought it was a great idea and joined in. The idea was to take a photo of yourself, print it out, and then write on top of your face- words, phrases of what you want to foster in the coming year. I found myself a little nervous with Sharpie in hand and poised above my face! But once I got started, I couldn’t stop. I actually ended up doing three of them and then I attached them to make an accordion structure. It folds up and then out. I glued it in my journal so that I could continue my thoughts.

The one on the left above is the first one I did and the first one of the little book. The words I chose really are the first things that come to mind when I think about what I want in my life. But the second I did, where I’m upside down, is more of a reflection of how it really is for me. I’m always feeling a bit like I’m coming undone, or that I’m constantly juggling things, or just plain losing it. But as I worked on it, I thought, well surrendering to it all and accepting that it’s ok not to have control all the time, is the key to feeling balanced. Maybe.

And the last portrait…that really is what I strive for.

Now, I did this all really quickly. Not too much thought…but it ended up giving me some clarity. I highly recommend this exercise and it’s fun too!

Courtney had invited a few other people to do it too and then she made a slide of our faces. You can read what she says about it at her blog and view the slideshow below. Thanks Courtney for the invitation to play in my journal.

“I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I intended to be.”-Douglas Adams