Art and Doodling

Here's a new little sketch of the Missouri River. It's approximately 6" X 8" at the most..
It doesn't take much for a quick sketch once you learn. This happens to be watercolor. Some people like using watercolor and others don't. Try colored pencils, crayolas, or just plain lead pencil. Whatever you find that works for you. There is no right or wrong and no picture is better that someone else...it's just different. Never compare yours to mine or others because our experience is different and just like our handwriting, no two are alike. Now get out there and get with it and leave a comment. God bless.

Journaling

How many of you have gotten your new journal books or gotten the old one out and dusted it off? This site is about the healing process that comes from journaling and doodling.
It's about you not me so start writing every thought that comes to your mind about the situation you are going through.
This site is about going thru cancer.....that can mean a whole host of different people:cancer survivors, caregivers, nurses, parents, spouses, children, pastors, neighbors and etc.. So get on board and start commenting on anyone of these blogs I have written. We need your comments to get this thing kick started. Please sign up to be a follower on the follower box and tell others. About the easiest way to get to this blog is to remember my web site and punch the correct button, Ricky's Blog. There are other buttons of my art and another where I am a correspondent for Sketching in Nature Blog.
Share with us what you may be writing about. These journals are not the same as a diary where you might confess to murder........... it's expressing your feelings and thoughts about the cancer situation and your part in it. The healing comes from the writing process.
Please remember some of you may never written before like this but please trust me and start.
I will try to get some more sketches up for those of you who want to embellish your pages with calligraphy, pictures or try your hand at doodling. Ask an art question if need be that's what this is all about.............Expressing ourselves and gaining healing and a community of like kind friends.

Tips on Journaling

God is so good to us. I woke up this morning and the diahrhea is gone after a week. When you have a stoma [colostomy] you just can't imagine how bad this one thing can affect you. Thank God some of you don't.
So what's the best way to start journaling or the HOW-TO? Get yourself a hardbound sketchbook at Barnes and Noble or one of those book stores. The reason I say sketchbook is the lack of lines it presents. This allows you the freedom to roam on the page if you want to doodle you won't be restricted. Size of this book really doesn't matter because everyone likes something different.
Next is to get an ink pen that won't smear with water. Most don't but double check it with a little spit on the finger. If you like color, grab yourself a small set of colored pencils. They are inexpensive and last a long time. Fun is what it is all about.
Now when you get the material the life change begins. This journal is for you.....unless you care to share. It's not something you use for writing a book but for sharing your world and thoughts through the eyes GOD has given you. Let those pent up feelings or thoughts come out. Example could be......... While sitting in the hospital waiting room describe the people around you or their conversations if it is hearable. Try doodling parts of the room or people. No one expects you to be Rembrandt or Walt Whitman, so go for it. Remember it is the process that is the healing for you and what comes out, if shared, can even heal us.
So today get your materials needed. Maybe take a marker and make it personal to you with your name. You can put stickers on it. I've even seen some that are decopaged and some that have had beautiful dress material glued to them. The sky is the limit........now go forth and have a blessed day. God bless.

In The Beginning__Before Diagnosis

It was late Saturday evening, December 8th, 2007. I had just finished studying my bible lesson for the following morning. Bible teaching is something I enjoy doing and have done for years and some preaching in years long ago.
Suddenly I had to go to the bathroom and there is where my world changed. There was blood starting to show up in the stool and this made me think I must be getting hemorrhoids. Then, like a faucet being opened, blood just started gushing.
I couldn't get it to stop! All I could do was watch the stool fill up.
Instantly my whole essence was saying, "This is not right!" With my brain racing a million miles per hour there was not one thought that would help. Then, looking at the floor, I knew what was changing and that this was it. You know, the moment you leave this world.
Slowly I slid off the stool to the floor and layed my head down. Looking at the tile before my eyes it dawned on me that I was actually starting to embrace this weird phenomenon.
With no concept of time and space I found myself somewhere that was not on earth. Do I dare say it was heaven? Can I say out loud I saw the bright light? How strange also, this something that was happening to me, felt ok.
It was the most delightful incident in my entire life, bar none. I died at that moment in time and came back.
You see, I forgot to tell you that from dying that Saturday night and when I got to the hospital, 4 days had passed. (That is another story you won't believe)
Doctors have asked me all about this dying experience and I will share more with you later.