Who Are You?

This is the question that was posed to us in Crescendoh's Crafting My Best Life workshop.... I nearly gasped with anxiety when I saw Jenny hold up a simple hand written sign asking

WHO ARE YOU? 

Thoughts immediately began racing, but none of them the answer mostly just signs of freaking out... Uh... I'm Julee... uh... an artist, a wife?, mom?, daughter?, sister?, friend?, goof ball diva of soldering???... nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope.... luckily she rescued me *right* away... with journalling prompts. THANK the Heavens I didn't have to manufacture THAT answer... oh, but I did...

Where were you born... it started... oh, I can answer that question... Hayward, CA Kaiser Hospital 1969 and so it began. spilling. out. line after line after page after page. Answering the prompts brought us through each stage of our life in a graceful way that allowed me to look without steeping in it. Spill with out getting stuck in the stuff. Healing all the way. *SIGH* I love Jenny's mindful consideration, choosing each question with care.

Then we used the responses to craft a Best Life Self Portrait...



Here's mine.

Part of the exercise asks us to share it with someone and talk about how it spells things out and I thought that I'd do that here...why not?

Let me just start with the obvious. What I see here is a picture of a girl with blonde hair... I still think of myself as blonde even after having this brown mop of hair for almost a year... so I just went with it... and when I was little that's sort of what my hair looked like... melancholy in the eyes... that's really all I can say about that... I mean, sometimes kids are a bit like that, y'know? You know.

A butterfly... the beautiful symbol of freedom and reminder that we can escape if we need to. I see keys and locks reminding me that I'm safe without hiding... lollipops that are made from swirls that remind me that chaos can turn into experience and experience into ideas manifesting information for mothering and teaching. Plenty of hearts which are pretty self explanatory; tenderness, compassion, love for self and others... Stars... I love stars. Here they make me think of magic and magical thinking which is that artist part of me which helps me make something from out of refuse/ mundane objects a.k.a. "nothing".  I notice that I have no arms which makes me vulnerable, open and courageous. And near the bottom in front of the door there is a tiny dog symbol that I started noticing in my work after my precious Chauncee passed away last year... she is Unconditional Love.

Whew!

So, who am I? after all of that I am...

Strong and passionate and believe that there is room for everyone.
I am the embodiment of "Move On"
Life is precious and we may only have this one... Seize it!

So far, I learned that I know that if I'm in the middle of an extremely difficult time in my life there is a lesson I am learning and I begin looking for it immediately... that's that "silver lining" thing that some people talk about. There is a light at the end of the tunnel keep moving towards it.

And... some people will recognize the pain in your eyes, heart, voice and stand by your side to see you through it... unconditionally. I am that person and so are the people I love the most.

Oh and I'm the other stuff, too, but those are each their own facets, aren't they? each of those faces of the jem that is Jul ;) What? I am still the goofball, too, y'know?

Now, go get YOUR CRAFT ON!!!