Collage as a Journey Inward

Tonight Delaney and I did one of our favorite projects together and made collages. I love seeing the pictures she chooses to piece together and the things she is inspired by and drawn to. I keep an "Illustrated Discovery Journal" which is basically this big binder I fill with anything and everything I see that reflects me--what I love, enjoy doing or think is beautiful, things I dream about, books I want to read, recipes I want to cook, places I want to travel and on and on. Making collages for me is just taking some of those things and putting them all together on a page. Delaney said tonight while looking at mine, "Mom, you're not supposed to have so many words in a collage." I explained to her that words are one of the things that make me the happiest and so even when I am really looking for pictures I find myself cutting out words and phrases.

A friend recently sent me this exercise where you fill in a list about yourself. Doing the art project and getting out my binder this evening made me think about who I am, and so I decided to complete the list.

i am: a child of God.
i think: too much about everything... too much.
i know: i am blessed.
i want: to simplify.
i have: everything I need.
i wish: i could go to the beach this summer.
i hate: negative energy.
i miss: the Blue Ridge mountains.
i fear: losing my girls.
i feel: peaceful.
i hear: God calling me outside my little world into service.
i crave: more time with my husband.
i search: for more time for what really matters.
i wonder: who my girls will grow up to be.
i regret: the years I wasted in so much sin and sadness.
i love: God and my family.
i ache: when my girls are sick or hurting.
i care: about people.
i always: drink coffee in the morning and pray.
i am not: always strong and brave.
i believe: anything is possible.
i dance: because Delaney asks me to!
i sing: really loud at church and alone in the car.
i cry: more when I am happy then sad.
i don't always: wash my makeup off at night.
i fight: about race relations.
i write: as therapy.
i never: forget to brush my teeth.
i listen: because I really want to know others.
i am happy: about our new home.
i need: alone time.

Thank you for making me uniquely Monica Kaye. I marvel when I see Your fingerprints in my heart and life.