Monday greetings! I trust your weekend was a good one. It was a soaker here, and at some points it poured for hours on end. Heavenly :) I've mentioned numerous times on this blog how much I love the rain. In fact, I distinctly remember as a child feeling quite dejected when the clouds eventually moved on and the sun reappeared. I obviously had issues, lol.

I am most contented when it gets right down to it and pours; a little thunder (I can do without the lightening) thrown in just sweetens the deal... and when it rains, I often play Neil Young Unplugged. Don't ask me why, it started when I lived on an acreage on Peace River and it had been raining for a week straight. Somehow this album's melancholy seemed the perfect accompaniment; fifteen years later and Neil is still the cherry on top of my rainy day.

To amuse myself Saturday afternoon (with Neil as my muse), I pulled out my new book The Sound of Paper, which I profiled last Monday (here) and completed the 'task' after the first chapter entitled Setting Off. Following the author's instructions, I gathered seven magazines (these were all freebies I've picked up here and there in my travels) and went through them pulling the images which "spoke to me". I was not to concern myself with why they connected. The second half of the assignment, I trimmed and arranged the images into a pleasing vignette. The author states that "the resulting picture it is a portrait of your consciousness at this point in time. What you see in your collage may surprise, delight, or even alarm you. Seeing is believing, and one picture is worth a thousand words." I was then to take to the page and describe my personal discoveries. (This is actually an exercise I used to do on my own in my late teens/early twenties. I had filled numerous journals, which I foolishly threw away years ago.)

While sparing you the details of my resulting epiphany lol, (I am not a psychologist, but I play one at home... just ask my family) I don't think it's too much of a stretch to guess at the issues I am grappling with. Aging, reaching my full potential (before it's too late... haha), possibly heading back to school and procrastination, to name a few.

A side note: the two men above are one and the same; (obviously many years apart) Michael Snow, one of Canada's most renowned artists. Michael now 81, is still going strong, creating art in just about every medium you can shake a stick at. I read an article profiling his life many months ago with great interest and was struck at the time by these two photographs.

In the end, I am quite intrigued by just how congruent the above images are. My subconscious is speaking - am I ready to listen? I challenge you to do this exercise for yourself and share the results - I'd love to see them :) If you send me a pic of your creation, I will post them next week - either anonymously if you are shy, or credited to you, if you'd like.

So there you have it folks, it's not all kittens and rainbows here at Jane's Jewels! I leave you with a track from Neil's Unplugged album and hope you have a great day :)