Saturday Story

We've visited 'A' and 'P' so far.  As tomorrow is Valentine's Day I thought we would look at V stories.

Of course, the obvious V is Venice.  If you put Venice into the search box to the right of this post, lots of posts will come up. Several pieces of my textile work is inspired by Venice.

V is for voice.  There are several posts here about finding my voice, including the previous post this week.

V is for values.  Mary wrote about Personal Values and I used that as the inspiration behind this page in my 2021 Word of the Year journal.

So what other things beginning with V feature in my story?

From the age of 8 to 18 I lived in a house in Verstone Croft.  At some point in our life there we had central heating fitted!  My parents moved from there when I had left for college.  They sold it to a cousin of my mother.  The next time we visited we weren't allowed to walk on the lawn.  Isn't it funny the things you remember?

Next V:  I drive a Vauxhall Astra.  This is third or fourth one, I think.  I wrote one off on a drive home from Pembrokeshire in the early hours of the morning.  I was the only person on the road and as I came out of the tunnel at Monmouth I hit the barrier at the side of the road and did a spectacular drive with two wheels going along the top of the barrier at an angle to the road.  Just like the stuntmen do it in the films!  And fortunately when I got to the end of the barrier the car landed the right way up!  I can't find the original pictures but here are the pages from my Learn Something New journal.

I think I came off lightly, with just a bruised arm.  The car didn't fare so well.

V is for Victory. 
Did you know that my name, Bernice, comes from Berenike which means Bringer of Victory. It's also where Nike, the footwear company, gets its name from. Valerie Sjodin made this piece of artwork for me.

At the beginning I said I had chosen V for today's Saturday story as tomorrow is Valentine's day.  So I will finish with a photo of part of the card I am giving Roger tomorrow.  I chose it so I can cut it up and put it in my journal!!!!  The theme for February in Valerie's Plan With Me is hearts.

Thanks for joining me today.
Bernice

Just Do It

Did you know that my name, Bernice, comes from Berenike which means Bringer of Victory.  It's also where Nike, the footwear company, gets its name from.  Valerie Sjodin made this piece of artwork for me.

If you are a regular reader you will know that I used to be addicted to online courses and that I tried to give them up.  In their place I became addicted to in-person workshops.  I was trying to give them up when I had to go cold turkey in March due to them all being cancelled.

I'm sure you'll guess what came next.  Yes, I succumbed to the delights of online courses.  However rather than them being particularly art or textile based, I signed up for one on developing creativity and one called 30 days to Purposeful Habits.  I'm half way through both.  And have signed up for a creativity based one starting next week.

Through all these courses I am trying to find out why I work, or don't work, the way I do.  I haven't struggled with not being creative through lockdown, because I wasn't being particularly creative before.  There has been some creativity simmering away below the surface - the last few blogposts on zine making for example.  And I have kept up my Word of the Year Journal.  The most creative thing in that is using different coloured pens and some washi tape!

So what have I found out so far?

That I actually need a schedule and deadlines.   When I retired I had a mini rebellion about schedules.  From childhood my life was scheduled around school timetables.  More timetables as a teacher and then again as a parent.  So when I stopped working I decided I should do without and be as free as a bird!

And how has that worked out for you you might be asking.

Not at all well really.  I don't get much done and I don't feel any sense of satisfaction with some of my days.

The course that officially starts next week had an opening exercise of a piece of work that captured the essence of my life's journey so far.  In doing the two recent courses I became very aware that I keep asking the same questions maybe at a different level on a metaphorical spiral staircase.  I learn a little each time but never make big breakthroughs.

I think it's time to make the breakthrough.

One of the things I have also realised is I should stop hesitating and 'just do it!'

Thanks for joining me today

Bernice

V is for victory

In our Living Your Word of the Year group we are using a fortnightly (bi-weekly) A-Z challenge throughout the year to help us focus on our word and live it out.

Because of the way I have made my journal it's a case of going with the flow of what background the pages have when I turn to them.

I read Valerie's post: Vision, Valor, Victory and it made me think about the meaning of my name.  Bernice comes from Berenike (from which we get Nike).  It means Bringer of Victory.

Valerie had given me a beautiful piece of her artwork and I decided I would scan it, print it out and include it on my pages for V.

I cut up the scanned and printed piece and stuck it into the book and added some washi tape.

I had printed out the scanned art before I went to church.  During the talk Rob spoke about being a victor not a victim.  Just right for my page.

Here are the pages together.

And if you would like to listen to Rob's talk, it's here: Doing what disciples do - Authority.


Thanks for joining me today.
Bernice

Join Our Inspirational Facebook Group: Living Your Word of the Year

Join Mary Brack, Valerie Sjodin and I in our Facebook group where we are giving participants the opportunity to live out an A-Z of their own word throughout 2019.  Mary explains what we are doing in her blog post.  We don't like a lot of rules, so we will have suggestions and options to spark creativity, and to help in recording and exploring our word’s meaning in visual and fun ways. We will each blog about our experiences and our art.

 Living Your Word of the Year 2019

Hashtags on Instagram:  #livingyourword2019

Check out the other blogs:
Mary: www.foundonbrighton.com
Valerie: www.valeriesjodin.com/blog

To ensure you get updates from Valerie, Mary & I why not subscribe to our blogs.