Can't see the forest for the trees

What are you working on?

The thing about telling people what you're doing is ... they ask about it.

And that's good. It can motivate you to keep going, offer a push when you're in a lull, or even bolster your confidence knowing someone is interested.

But it also means you'll probably want to finish whatever that thing is. To keep the promise you made ... mostly to yourself.

A few good things
Over the last few years I have maintained a journal to list of a few good things about the day. 

It's a simple, but interesting exercise.

Some days it's easy: Wordle in two (rare and very exciting), pepper jelly with cheddar cheese on a cracker, or Ollie the orange cat rolling on the sun-warmed winter driveway.

But other days, it takes a bit.

The journal sits on a side table along with a pen to remind me to make my entries.

The so-so, or not-so good days, are when it's most rewarding. When it's most helpful. Because it forces me to think beyond the worry, the mistakes, and the mishaps. To re-examine my day and find a few good things, despite it all.

And they're always there.

The pattern the blinds make on the wall when the afternoon sun comes around; the surprising, fresh scent of a cucumber when it's sliced; or the person who paused and waited to hold the door for me as we entered the store.

Thinking about a few good things is helpful, but writing them down helps to solidify the goodness. Page after page after page.

I've mentioned the botanical journal in earlier emails because I want to share the idea with you, so you can list a few good things about your day, too.

After mulling over how to illustrate it, a botanical theme seemed most fitting.

Can't see the forest for the trees
This week I struggled to measure where I am with the project. Too many pieces, nothing holding them all together.

So I taped some of the illustrations to wall and began to think ... about the page order, and whether or not the pages should be lined, blank, or a combination; whether or not it should be strictly collage, or mixed with line drawings. More collage pages with the black background?

Lots of questions. I'll get to all of them eventually, and keep going.

When will it be ready?

Not as soon as I'd hoped. I thought it would be done by now, so I'm shooting for the end of the month.

I'll keep you posted.

Tell me about a project you're working on ... and what do you think, more pages with the black background?