wild blossom studios

I wrote about my love for note writing two nights ago.

This morning I looked at photos… the outpouring of love after the Vancouver riots …

The power of a few words on a piece of paper.

Thank you, Vancouver.  Thank you for expressing your gratitude in love notes.

Love notes can take so many different forms.  And these photos sum up my love for note writing…

beautiful

Here’s what I wrote…

I’ll start with note writing…

I’ve always been a note writer… in greeting cards, journals, on shopping lists, random pieces of paper.  High school note writing was like breathing.  I poured my heart and soul out between friends… from deep philosophizing to details for the upcoming weekend… doodles, playful fonts, ball point pens, a quote or two from Cat Stevens and other great artists, musicians and leaders to inspire a thought or make a point.

In university (education) … profs continually seemed to say, “you don’t need to write this down.”   But, I needed to.  Some days I’d try to hide that I was writing.  Some days I just didn’t write…   and it felt like torture… holding back my true nature.  I finally got angry, took charge, and vowed that I’d never tell a student of mine that s/he didn’t need to do something.  I wrote things down in every class even if I was told, “you don’t need to write this down”…  I prepared myself with the response, “I need to write, insert prof’s name here.  That’s how I learn.  Please don’t tell me what I ‘don’t need to do’ thank you very much.”  And, I used my response a handful of times.

Note writing is my meaning maker.

When my boyfriend, now husband, gave me a hard cover blank sketch book to journal in … my notes became even more inspired.  A blank page was a thing of beauty.  I could write in circles, across the page, doodle with notes, play with fonts and different pens without the restrictions of lines… even though lines never really stopped me…

I’ve always written inside books I give as gifts, or buy for myself..  If someone gifts me a book I ask them to write in it.  Jotting down the name, date, and a note inside the cover gives books more meaning… a memory… another layer of story… more heart.  It takes me back to a sacred moment in time, like when my Dad gave me The Alchemist after my traumatic car accident in Europe.  It could be that I open the cover and it’s blank… this book that is one of my favourites…The Alchemist.  OR, it could be that one of my favourite books, The Alchemist, has a note inside the cover… a sweet surprise.  And, it’s meaningful… My Dad was thinking about me at a difficult time in my life and wanted to give me this book…  wow.

This is the stuff of life that fills me up – meaningful moments, surprises, celebrations, unleashed creative expression, deep thought, the empowered, playful human spirit …

The more secretive a note, the better – notes tucked into bike handlebars… inside a bouquet of wild flowers.  Note writing is a way to connect, inspire, express gratitude, and love.

in wild blossom spirit and igniting the spirit of note writing,

gillian