Stuff... and No Stuff...

I've known for a few months now that 2008 would be a year of changes and challenges for me. Positive changes that is. And fun challenges. I'm doing great on my artistic challenged so far. In fact, I think I've been more creative in the past three weeks than in the whole summer of 2007. And I'm not stopping now. Here's proof: my Daily Art Card for yesterday. And below, a journal page done in my spiral journal. I took the "Feel" theme again, used the same words but went about it in a completely different way. For details on how I did this page, go here. I loved doing this one and kept looking at it the rest of the evening and all day today.



Changes. A lot of people are going through them, whether positive or negative. I've always believed that there is a reason for everything that happens. Even bad things have a reason for being. I've come to realize that I've changed a lot over the years. I've matured quite a bit. It was ten years ago that I started my love/hate relationship with the internet. I was barely twenty, still naive and bit foolish. I got sucked into the chat life. Fell in love (or at least that's what I thought it was) with men I have never seen or even heard. I did stupid things. I actually bought a plane ticket to meet a guy from chat, in the USA (I'm in Canada for those who still don't know.) And I did this, not once or even twice but THREE times! My mother nearly had a heart attack every time but I was legally an adult, in both countries, and she knew that I wouldn't listen anyway. I was lucky. The guys I met were sweethearts. But the long-distance thing really wasn't for me. So I started going out with friends a bit more and getting away from the chatrooms. Until I moved out of my parents' house, five years ago.

I was living alone, bored, lonely, you name it. So I got sucked back into chat. And I guess that's when I hit rock bottom. I reconnected with a guy from chat I had know since the beginning. Fortunately, this one lived in the same country as me. I went to meet him. He came over for a week. He got what he wanted and I never heard from him again. I got depressed. I didn't know what was wrong with me. Blah blah blah. Eventually, I decided it was time for forgiveness. Not for him. For me. I forgave myself. Why am I telling you all this? Because I only recently realized that I had to live that experience in order to move on beyond the chatroom. It made me a stronger woman. So yes, bad things do happen but they can lead to good things. Now, I know that the next man that will come into my life will be a good man because I won't have it any other way. And seriously, I'm hoping that 2008 is the year that I will meet him! Because this year is MY year!

And before I go, let me tell you about the result so far of another challenge. This year I'm taking the No Stuff challenge after seeing this little film, which is to buy as little as possible, to reduce the amount of stuff I have and to buy in an intelligent and eco-friendly manner (less packaging, reusable bags, buying local, etc.) Since January 1st, except for groceries and other necessities like that, the only thing I have bought is ribbon by the yard, because it was 50% off that day and I used a cloth bag instead of plastic. I am SERIOUSLY proud of myself! No magazines, no art supplies, no books, no CDs, no bits and pieces from the Dollar Store... nothing! nada! niet! rien! zero! And what I do plan on buying, eventually, will be from thrift shops, second hand stores and garage sales. Hopefully, by the end of the year, I'll have saved a nice little amount of money and I'll be that much closer to my dream of being wealthy! Heck, I found a quarter this morning on my walk! Not a penny, a whole quarter! Ok, it's nothing like Violette's daughter-in-law who found $100 but still... it's better than not finding anything at all, right?

Alright, enough of this. I'm off to do my Daily Art Card and then a bit of knitting before bed.