The Wonderful Word For This Wednesday is “Angst Journaling”

If this Election has you stressed out and anxious about the future, you are not alone.  If not, that’s okay, because no matter what you are anxious, angry, or upset about, this is a good exercise to release the stress.  Ready?  Let’s do it!

Angst Journaling

Supplies

  • 9×12 Mixed Media Paper (or any good quality paper that you have in any size you have)
  • Pencil or Permanent Pen (many pens will bleed and make a mess when you go to do the second part of this activity)
  • Your angst

Start with a piece of mixed media paper and a pencil or permanent pen.  Set a timer for 10-15 minutes and write your little heart out.  Write all the things you are upset about.  Say anything that comes to mind, just a stream of consciousness.  Spelling, Punctuation, and grammar are irrelevant as you won’t read this when you’re done and neither will anyone else.

Say it all.  If you get to the bottom, just start back at the top and write right over the top of your first page.  If you get stuck, continue to write the last thing you said, or even, “I am stuck”.  Just keep writing, just keep writing, just keep writing (sung to the Finding Nemo song in case you missed the reference).

Whew!  How do you feel?  What did you notice as you did this angsty journaling activity?  When I have done this, I noticed that I started out with some benign normal angsty stuff, but as I wrote my heart out, new deeper angst started coming out.  Listen to your mind and you might be surprised what’s deep inside!

Okay, now that you’ve gotten it all out, how do you feel?  Take a deep breath and blow out the angst.  There is just something cathartic about getting your inner most thoughts down on paper, outside of your mind.

But now what?  Yes, you could burn it in the fireplace, or rip it up and throw it out, but I have a better idea.

The Hope Part

Supplies

  • Acrylic paints in your favorite colors
  • Paint brushes, old credit card or gift card, bubble wrap, and other mark making items
  • Paint Pen or Sharpie
  • Audacious Hope

No matter what your angst is, you can still have audacious hope.  Things may look super grim in the midst of the angst, but that doesn’t mean we have to succumb to depression.

What’s the best that could happen?  What is your biggest hope in the midst of your angst.  Don’t be afraid to think big in hope, what have you got to lose?

So let’s start covering our angst in audacious hope, shall we?

First, I like to cut my paper down to a square just because I like symmetry.  I use the discarded piece later to rip up and use as part of the composition.

Start with a dollop of your favorite color of acrylic paint right on your page and then spread it around with  old credit card. or a palette knife, etc.  Depending on the color you choose, you will probably still see some writing through the paint, don’t worry!  This is only your first layer.

When the first layer is dry, pick another favorite color and put some down here and there around your page in rough brush strokes.  Once the paint is on the paper, you can add some texture and /or mark making in the wet paint.

Keep adding colors and textures with anything you have.

Here are some ideas:

  • Bubble wrap (just dab bubble wrap into wet paint on your page, or paint some bubble wrap and dab the bubble wrap around the page).
  • Plastic lids from beverages like bottled water, Gatorades, etc. (make random circle marks in wet paint on your paper with these).
  • Wine Corks (use it like a stamp, just dab it into wet paint and then place cork dots wherever you please)
  • Look around you and see what you could use to add different marks and textures to your page.

Now use your sharpie or paint pen and draw an outline of something that symbolizes hope for you.  I chose a flower as it blooms in the face adversity.

Once you have your outline, paint the negative space (the space around the shape) with a solid color.  You can add some texture to this background section as well if you’d like (I used bubble wrap on mine).

 

Other images that might portray hope could be a butterfly , a rainbow, a dove, etc.  What will you choose?

I added ripped pieces of the discarded journal page piece (the part that I cut off when I made it into a square) as petals in the flower, and added the word hope in the middle.

Now when I look at my angst journaling page, I see hope.

We recently did this in my mom’s group and it was fascinating to see what everyone created.  Each one was vastly different than the next.

As always, If you do this, please share with me your experience and/or your final piece.  I’d love to hear your perspective.

Kimberly Snider, Virtuoso, Signing Off