Étiquette : printables

The Alchemist Grove 11. The Door.

Last week of winter. It’s time for us to step out of our shelter and to start our new journey in the grove. A door is opening, as well as we are. Outside, everything is peaceful and welcoming. We can confidently make our first step forward.

We already have a choice to make. But we are at peace, as we know that each one of them is the good one now and here. We are ready to welcome everything, to embrace what comes on our path. We know that each obstacle will be a stepping stone, that each encounter will be a lesson, that each place we will visit will be home.

Now is the time to enjoy the beginning of our new adventure, to open our mind, our arms, our eyes. To see, feel and understand what is surrounding us. And to realize we are belonging to it. We breathe the ocean air, filling our entire being with its benefits. We let our eyes get used to the soft light of the rising sun. It’s a perfect day to begin our journey. The air is still cool, as Winter softly welcome Spring in the cycle of life.

I love to envision them having a chat about what happened these last 3 months, then Winter gives the keys to Spring and go rest, its mission accomplished. Spring is a playful one and proceeds to have fun with weather, making sure that everything works as it’s supposed to, sometimes within a single day. Then it will slowly let the sun warm up a bit and Life will wake up and join the party.

And in a way, this is also the way I see myself during this time. To me march is a special month, and I go through a lot till the end of it, when I finally can go back to live, free from flashbacks and sad memories. And then I just let life take over, as if a veil is being lifted to the beauty of the world. I accept this cycle, as it makes me appreciate even more the rebirth of Spring. A bit as if I needed to go deep one last time before rising and shining full strength after that. Being my phoenix self once more.

Now is the time to open ourselves to life, to send our intentions to the world and act on making our dream come true. We have all we need to do so. Our journey begins with a single step forward. Let’s do it!

So let’s step out of our comfort zone, and dive into the world awaiting for us.

The card

I wanted to express openness to what comes, and went for the door, as it allows us to step out of our comfort zone, through it. It’s a rite of passage, when we decide to take action and actually go forward. I wanted to show a contrast between the known and what is awaiting for us. And to motivate us, it needed to be brighter outside than inside… Otherwise, we would never go and explore it with confidence. So I drew really dark walls, but that can be lighten by a single sunbeam. We aren’t in darkness, we just switched of the light to get out of here. The door has no handle, because we are free to come and go whenever we want to. We don’t have to lock ourselves inside, we are safe, we can leave without fearing for what we left behind, it’s safe. I wanted to show that the world is welcoming us, so I drew a peaceful beach with soft sand, and grass here and there, as life is awaiting. I wanted to express that we are protected, so I added islands protecting our shelter from possible raging waves. Nothing is perfect, and clouds are here to remind us that we may go through some bad weather, but right now, everything is fine, peaceful, ready to help us going forward. And as we are who we are, I added some sparks here and there!

My journey

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Our journal

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Our cards and/or stickers

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I wish you a good week. Make your first step forward, and let the world welcoming you.

The Alchemist Grove 09. Books

Books are magical to me. Words have their own magic power, they can materialize our deepest feelings, our secrets, as well as they allow us to have access to other people thoughts, inner world. They are this simple but effective mean to communicate knowledge, from centuries ago, or the latest discoveries. They create a culture, they bring us to confront our own beliefs to others views, they offer us answers, as well as new questions. And the most magical work of all: we needed to learn how to decipher these symbols on the pages to access this knowledge. In our own language, and later, if we were inclined to, in other languages, with their own logical, their own culture. If this is not magic, tell me what is!

I love to write maybe as much as I love to read. I am always thirsty for new knowledge, new understanding, new horizons. I usually don’t write the same thing in French or in English. They are two completely different languages in my mind, as if I gave each of them certain attributes. I became aware of that when I first started to really feel confident enough to write in English. I didn’t express the same range of emotions, I didn’t even think the same way than I do in French. And I embraced that fact, because to me they both express a part of who I am, and they complement each other really well. This year, it’s a different approach, as each stage of the journey is written either in French or in English then translated in the other language. I just go with the flow. If I feel like writing in a language on a specific topic, I do it, then I translate it, adding most of the time some changes because it fits better with it.

I spent time trying to know myself. I had the opportunity to live life changing experiences that questioned everything I was, had or believed in. I think about it as if I was standing in the middle of ruins, completely naked. I had to know what I needed to go on, to go back to my life my journey. What I held dear, what made me willing to go on, what I could count on, who I needed in my life. Who I was, really, when everything was taken away from me. When I had no control on what was happening in my life, but that it still was mine, I still had to get on track and go somewhere. Each of these experiences were journeys in themselves. And I started to put my thoughts and feelings on paper, to allow my mind to summarize it, to allow my overwhelming feelings to settle down a bit, to allow me to have a clearer vision of the situation I was living. I could write into journals, or write poetry, or just leave my thoughts online, but I put into words what I was living. I practiced the magic of letting go by putting things down.

Now and then, I go back and read what I wrote during those times. And if I recognize myself in these texts (after all, *I* wrote them), I also feel a distance with the one I was then. My feelings have evolved, my life did too. If I am the same at the core, I am both far more complex than I was, because I learned, experienced, felt a lot since then, and simpler too, as I got rid of a lot of useless perceptions or ideas. I know who I am because I know what it took me to be here and now.

And I know that if I need to, I can always look for a book that will give me, if not the answers I think I need, at least the keys to access to a new understanding. I don’t wait for someone to appear with the knowledge I need in my life. I reach it, I look for it, I pursue it. And, usually, I get it. I follow the flow of my intuition, of my mind wandering, and when I feel I need to dive deeper, I look for someone who mastered or at least went deeper in what I am interested in. I love to explore others thoughts, the way they perceive the world surrounding them, the way they put into words their own vision, their own explanation of the world, and share it with whoever wants to receive it. I don’t do that as a scholar, I just take what, to me, makes sense to my own reflection, what leads me in the path I am right now.

This week I decided to print both my twin journeys (the Alchemist grove and Le Bosquet de l’Alchimiste), and to put them in their own books. So that, in a few years, I will be able to read them and to remember, probably with tenderness, compassion and amusement too, where I was in my life path this year. I also keep a journal, on which I don’t write everyday, but where I log things that seem important to me, in order to both step back and remember.

So this week, pick a notebook, a book, open a new document on your computer, and take care of the front page of it. You may wait for the title, it may came later, you may want to ad embellishments, doodles, or keep it simple. Do what seems comfortable with you. Choose your ink color(s). I go with black, adding some claret and teal here and there, when I feel like it. There are no other rules than your own. Have fun, do it with love for yourself. Because you deserve to have your story written, and the future you will enjoy the growth you experiment. What a beautiful gift to yourself!

The card

This card is probably the one I love the most so far. I obviously had to go with a stack of books, as I have a lot of those everywhere at home hahaha. I wanted them to look ancient and precious, but I didn’t want to be exclusive, or to narrow the idea of knowledge, so I decided to invent an alphabet for the titles and authors name. Don’t try to wonder who it may be, I went as it came, so no references at all. I also had to add some embellishments, always with this idea to make them precious, almost sacred. And I tried to give their covers a leathery aspect. Because this kind of books obviously need a leather cover. I wanted their pages to look almost as parchments, thick and old paper. And feel as if they were read a lot. Of course, I had to had some sparks of magic, to express my vision of books. I am really happy with the result, it’s both soft and powerful. I hope you like it too!

My journey

I now have a clearer vision of what I want this part to be (after 8 weeks, it’s about time!). So the left part is more of a story telling inspired by the card and topic of the week, while the right part is more of a meditation or guide to help you reflect on the week.

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Our journal

This may be a good base for your own journal, your own journey. You can print it or copy the prompts that you want to reflect on, do what you feel like doing. Remember: no rules but your own!

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Our stickers and cards

I really need to show you what I did with those… I’ll try to do it this week!

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I wish you a wonderful week. If you feel inclined to, I would really love to see your notebooks, books and/or front pages, you can send a picture of it to me via the contact form. Have fun, keep an open mind and be compassionate with yourself. You deserve it.

The Alchemist Grove 08. Rocks

This past year, we really found ourselves facing a lot of challenges one after the other. What became obvious is that we needed to find balance in our lives. We needed to balance our working life with our personal time, to reinvent relationships in order to keep the link with our friends and family without putting anyone at risk, and to adapt the way we acted to the needs of the time, without loosing ourselves in anxiety or anger. We learned to do it, and we went beyond. We learned valuable lessons, lessons that are part of who we are, how we act, how we think now.

Balance is not an easy task to accomplish. Because we have to deal with expectations from outside as well as inside. We need to have a higher vision, a more global approach of our life to be able to establish priorities and to make sure that each realm has its own time, that we don’t forget something important on our way.

Finding balance requires a lot of adjustments, and our pile of rocks may collapse a couple of time before we can find the way to organize it so that it stays still. It requires patience, and determination. But once we achieve this balance between what makes our life the one it is, we find peace. And all the time spent to order the chaotic stack of colorful, funky shaped of rocks of our interests and responsibilities, of our passions and obligations, of our social and lonely time, was a learning process to who we are, what we hold as important.

I need to balance my professional life with creativity. I need to keep time for myself, in order to enjoy the time I spend with others. I need to spend time learning something new and to share. I understood that the complexity of life is to recognize the balance between each part of who we are. Each and every thing we do, think or feel has its counterpart, and the two of them are what makes us whole beings. So I learned to accept what’s on my way, trying to determine if I need it to balance something I already have within, or if it opens me to another possibility.

When I’m stressed or irritated, I know that I lack balance within and I try to understand what would bring me back to this state of mind I really enjoy and love. Sometimes it doesn’t depend on me. But most of the time, I just need to take a few steps in the right direction to reach the balance I lost. With time, I learned to recognize when I start to lose balance and I created a path to find it back. To me, it requires a warm shower, some music and creativity. It allow my mind to free itself from the negativity it was trapped into, and to step back from what triggered it. Now in a place of peace, I can see what needs to be changed and act accordingly.

This week, we focus on balance and the ways we can reach it.

The card

I love to make piles of rocks, I find if both relaxing and focusing. And to me balance is all about walking on this fine line between the two. At first, I drew really colorful rocks, but I changed my mind and made them more neutral. It felt more appropriate. I wanted to express the fact that each rock fitted with the others, no matter how big or small it was. Because in our lives, we also have those big important realms that require a lot for our time and energy, but our pile is not complete without these small things that bring interest to it. I then added water int he background, because balance is for a good part balancing our emotions. Sky and clouds are here to symbolize air, the mind, because it’s also about keeping stress and overthinking away. Of course, once we succeed on building our pile of rocks, we feel it as an achievement, which it is, and the sun beam is here to celebrate it. Nothing would be complete without some sparks, so hey, why not? We can be proud of ourselves to have been able to balance all these rocks together, and we can now go back to our journey.

My journey

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Our journal

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Our cards and stickers

I made some new backgrounds yesterday, with watercolors and salt. I really had fun and I hope you like them!

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That’s it for this week. I wish you a good week in balance and inner peace.

The Alchemist Grove 04. Armor

This week, we reflect on our armor of weaknesses and strengths. Because they are a whole. The time has come for for to check each part of what protects us, of what we can use as weapons too.

It’s easier for most of people to think about their weaknesses. But they are only part of who we are, the part that slow us down on our path, the part that we use as an excuse too, most of the time. Thing is, our weaknesses can change into true strengths if we know how to use them. For once, they allow us to recognize them in someone else, and to feel more empathetic for him or her.

As we remove our armor in the Grove, let’s have a look at our strengths too. What makes us go further, no matter what, on what can we count to help us face what we need to face, to evolve, to grow? No need to play the humble card and to hide behind it. For our strengths can also be weaknesses if we don’t use them adequately.

In order to protect us, in order to be fitting, our armor needs to be balanced, and in order to achieve this balance, we have to check our weaknesses and strengths, to make sure they match what we can expect of them. We need to accept each of them as a part of the whole we are. If we need to adjust here and there, now seems to be the perfect time to do so. By looking at them genuinely, without judgement, by accepting them, and by welcoming them.

The card:

When I thought about strengths and weaknesses, I immediately had this image I used in my summer deck and in Inktober. First time I tried to digitally paint something like that, that way. I had a lot of fun trying to find ways and brushes to give the effect I wanted. I first painted it in black and white but then decided it deserved something extra, to reflect determination. I think it’s the one that took me the longest, but I learned so much during the process, and I also got rid of my fears and boundaries. I enjoyed each step of it, and I am proud of what I could do too! I hope it will inspire you.

My journey

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Our journal

Here are the prompts for this week:

  • My weaknesses are:
  • They can be strengths when….
  • My strength are:
  • they can become weaknesses when…
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Our cards and stickers

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I wish you all a good week, enjoy the time you spend with each of your strengths and weaknesses, as they are making you who you are, they are part of your whole, and should be honored as such.

I see you next sunday! Take good care of yourselves!

Inspiration and motivation stickers 07: family

This week, I felt that family was a good theme to go with. We all are part of a family, may it be by blood or by choice. Some of us, the lucky ones, belong to both.

So this week, think about what inspires you within your family, what gives you strength, what it means for you to belong to this group of people. And enjoy.

Here is the HD pdf to print, enjoy, share, or do whatever you want with it:

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Inspiration and motivation stickers 06: confidence

I have a bracelet in which is engraved « What lies behind you and what lies before you are tiny matters compared to what lies within you ». Ralph Waldo Emerson. It never leave my left wrist. It got me the strengh I needed sometimes to just make another step forward, or to stand firm.

This week, I offer you some self confidence/ confidence stickers to print, enjoy and ponder. I hope it will give you this little extra you need to just be yourself and to love the one you are. Because you are worthy of your self appreciation, and I believe in your potential. So head up high, and be yourself!

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See you next week!

Inspiration and motivation stickers 05: trust

Today, I offer you stickers on trust… as usual, get the pdf, print it and enjoy!!

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Inspiration and motivation stickers 04: healing

This week, you will have 2 batches of stickers!

Let’s start with today: Healing. Because sometimes, we need to realise that we are in the healing process… or that it’s tiem for us to heal.

For you, Angel, as you asked for, and everyone who feel they need these words in tehir life right now.

And the Pdf in HQ to print, and enjoy!

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Inspiration and motivation stickers 03: friendship

My weekly drop of stickers to cheer you all up!

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Print them, collect them, share them! Do whatever you want to do to spread the words!

See you next week!

Take good care of you.