I recently started using a journal with bright, colorful paper to brainstorm poem and chapbook ideas before I begin to write. So far it’s going well. I’ve come up with 8 or 9 ideas. At some point I’ll probably explore all of them.
Journals make me so happy. This journal has a candy box for a cover, and so many colors of paper. My journal collection grows larger every year. They all get used eventually. My general rule is to only use gel pens. I use black gel pens on colorful paper, and colored gel pens on white paper. Color is intoxicating.
Right now I’m on my back porch staring at the ocean. It feels so good. In high school and college I used to say I could feel God at the ocean. I feel Him more in the mountains now. Since having my daughter, I fear the waves and undertow. I worry about her drowning. She’s taking swimming lessons, but I’m still nervous. Still, from a distance, the ocean gives me peace and a strange sense of longing.
Life at Home 