So much has been going on lately, I'm finding it hard to pin down where to start and am noticing, in the moment , that I am being pulled towards my creative daily-ish journals.

I am no artist by any stretch, not 'doing art' since it became a non-mandatory subject in secondary school. But creative? Yes, I can go with that. A couple of years ago now, I moved from writing to collage journalling and creative journalling. It has become my go-to. I have found it helpful as a tool for making process notes after client work, after my clinical supervision and during my study process (examples below). It also helps with slowing me and my busy-brain down (which does not happen often otherwise).

I find it challenging to go back to written journalling. My wandering eyes make it difficult for me to find what I am looking for on the page, not helped by the fact that sometimes I can barely read my writing. Also, because I have processed whilst writing, my brain knows it has read this before and so, sometimes, will not slow enough. I can sit in it when enough time has passed that I can find the novelty in it, as though it is someone else's story being told. It's strange.
In comparison, I look back on the creative journal frequently. I have an instant connection to it in a way that doesn't happen with my journal writing. I am trying to find words to describe it ... 'immediacy' and 'layered-ness' are coming to me.

A good friend, Matilde Tomat, (go check out her work) said recently about art being a political act. I agree because I think everything is a political act at some level. This has got me thinking about expression and creativity in education, and the way in which it is judged as being done 'properly enough', and therefore being of merit to warrant it and this the person as artistic. Focusing on process and uncovering - a lot of the work is not pretty. This helps to remove pressure about 'good enough' but those old messages from education - 'it has to be good enough for other people to say so' - are difficult to shake off.

But, I am embracing it, not overthinking it, not correcting mistakes - those 'mistakes' appeared on the page for a reason. Now, I am finding courage to share these in my academic work, recognising it has a valid part to play in communicating my ideas, thoughts, feelings, strengths and vulnerabilities.  If anything, I wish I had realised it sooner - how much richer my academic study would have been for that.