5 Years Blogging - A Retrospective: 2010

This is the last in a series of five navel-gazing retrospective posts celebrating my five years of blogging in which I offer my top five posts for each year. Click here for the first four years. Congrats to Dayle on winning the celebratory giveaway!

2010 was incredibly full:

Creative and writing experiments on my blog;  the Vancouver Olympics; new assignments at work; moving from a 1920's house to a 1970's bungalow (more purging, packing and creating a home); a '70s housewarming party in full '70s garb; becoming an Auntie; a few getaways to Montreal; a Flying Lessons e-course and creative business possibility; summer rest & relaxation; moving to Squarespace and my new URL; gorgeous scenery and hiking in Gaspésie, Québec; a quick trip to NB for Dad's 70th birthday - singing with Sis at the party; new family connections on D.'s side; Thanksgiving on a dairy farm; Squam Art Workshops for a third year in a row; another abstract painting class, painting bigger and painting a lot; my first official solo art show; organizing a Winter Solstice art show; and at the end, a slow and restful December.

me, laughing at the glitter stucco in our groovy '70s basement (photo by D.)

My top five posts...

Creative Triggers - OK, again, I'm cheating here with more than one post. This is a link to a series of four posts describing some of my favourite creative triggers. It was my first time experimenting with a once-a-week series and I liked it. I might try it again.

creative possibility found at a favourite thrift shop

Joys of a Trusty Point and Shoot - Part of my Photography Month experiment, I wrote this post to remind myself that though my little point & shoot camera may not be fancy, it can still be effective in many ways.

Feeling Alive and Grateful - This was written in the midst of Kelly Rae Roberts' Flying Lessons e-course. I was riding on a major creative high that found its way into many of life's nooks & crannies!

belle Gaspésie, Forillon National Park

What's in a Name? (or A New-Manifesto) - A look into my bloggie psyche and how I came to choose Creative Living Experiment as a name.

A Stroll Through Mer Bleue - Because these photos ground and soothe me.

This concludes my little retrospective on my past five years of blogging. Combing through nearly 650 posts, noticing patterns and pivotal happenings along the way was a lot of fun - I highly recommend it!

Thank you for playing along. It just wouldn't be the same without you.

Steph

xo

A Celebratory Giveaway!

OK, so I'm feeling all what-if-I-have-a-party-and-nobody-comes (read: what-if-I-have-a-giveaway-and-nobody-comments), but dagnabbit it's my bloggiversary and I'm having a Giveaway!

Call it a celebration of my still being here after five years and a token of appreciation for your being here with me.

The prize? A 12x12 (10x10 print with a 1" white border all around) of Giselle:

(The print itself has more of the blue & yellow background showing on either side of her hair, this is a  cropped picture.)

Giselle is very special to me, she's my first face painted from scratch - evah. Her wild red hair and the borderline crazy don't-mess-with-me look in her eyes speak to me so. I think the eyes creep D. out a little bit, but she's got EDGE baby! I'VE got edge and so do YOU!

So here's the scoop:

Leave a comment on this post by end of day Friday, January 28th and I will add your name to the pot. When I wake up Saturday I'll print out the comments, put them in a bowl and ask D. to pick one (if Cassie had opposable thumbs I'd ask her). I"ll announce the winner here, he or she can send me a note through the blog's Contact page and we'll go from there. Easy peasy!

I hope you win!

5 Years Blogging - A Retrospective: 2009

This is the third in a series of five navel-gazing retrospective posts celebrating my five years of blogging in which I offer my top five posts for each year. Click here for 2006, 2007 and 2008. Stay tuned for a celebratory giveaway on January 25th!

If you are still reading this series you are a trooper and I thank you! Make sure you pop in on the 25th for a small token of gratitude in form of a giveaway OK?

Significant changes stemming from 2008 continued to morph my world in 2009. I got married. I deepened creative practice and friendships made at Squam Art Workshops. I joined Facebook. I pondered a lot and made it a regular practice to list the many things for which I was grateful. I honeymooned in Bar Harbor, Maine, and felt deeply at a cottage by a lake two hours north of Ottawa. I submitted work to my first ever art show and one of my pieces got accepted, I displayed art locally at my hair salon and sold prints for the first time. I experienced enormous highs and peace followed by exhaustion and depression. I took two months off work for rest. I returned to basics.

And how could I forget! My Urban Living Experiment, which was much about healing past hurts and discovery, came to a close and I created a Creative Living Experiment, which was - and still is - about looking forward and creating the life I want.

dancing down the aisle after the I Do's (photo by Kirsten Michelle)

Here are some of my favourite posts from 2009:

Giselle - Because she is still one of the accomplishments of which I am proudest and in my mind, represents wild, creative possibility!

Word for 2009: Create - A powerful manifesto set out for the year that took hold and evolved into this blog. I didn't realize it had that much staying power when I wrote it.

Marriage: Challenging Old Patterns - In 2009 I married D. After failing at a previous marriage I was a little gun-shy and did much reflecting on the matter during the months leading up to the big day. This post documents an important A-Ha moment (thank you Oprah!) that brought me comfort. My wedding day was one of the happiest days of my life and I am forever grateful for allowing Love back into my life, in all its forms.

our honeymoon suite at the Bar Harbor KOA

Seeking: A Lighter Shade of Grey - Along with the emotional highs, 2009 brought its darker days. In September D. and I spent a blissful week at a cottage on a secluded lake and it cracked me wide open. When we got back I crashed hard into depression and didn't really come back up until December. I still don't know what happened, but I suspect that that cottage and lake have magical powers within. I felt it.

Bennett Lake morning mist

An Instance of Creative YES - But all was not grey! Short and sweet, this post sums up how I felt after a particularly stimulating conversation with an acquaintance of mine about his plans and vision for a non-profit organization. It could easily describe any one of my creative highs.

And a bonus post because I just couldn't leave it out...

Back to Basics - I go back to this post again and again. It serves as a reminder when life gets a little too unmanageable.

my first prints!

2010, coming soon...

5 Years Blogging - A Retrospective: 2008

This is the third in a series of five navel-gazing retrospective posts celebrating my five years of blogging in which I offer my top five posts for each year. Here are 2006 and 2007. Stay tuned for a celebratory giveaway on January 25th!

2008 brought two significant events: I said goodbye to my beloved apartment and moved in with D. and Cassie, and I attended Squam Art Workshops. But there was plenty of other stuff...

Purging and packing up house AGAIN and setting up a new home with a boy and his dog, camping out on our new living room floor by the light of the fireplace the weekend we got our keys. Seeing a major project completed at work. More letting go of the past, signing divorce papers. Freezing berries, playing travel Scrabble, discovering a new neighbourhood. Miscellaneous health issues throughout the year. A getaway to Quebec City. A lot of pondering and musings. A solo trip to New Hampshire for Squam Art Workshops, not knowing a soul who was going. Post-Squam exhilaration followed by a crash. New snowshoes, Solstice Relfections and an amazing Norman Rockwell-esque family Christmas spent at Mom & Dad's.

I also noticed a funny thing in my writing patterns that year. Pre-Squam I seemed to have longer, more substantial posts and less pictures. After Squam that seemed to have changed, with more focus on the visual and less on the writing. Interesting, non?

My top five:

Craving Creative Community - Oh the power of putting forth our intentions to the Universe! I had no clue what was coming...

Book Find: The Omnivore's Dilemma - I remember working hard on this post an I'm proud of how it turned out. I wanted to experiment with writing something different; it makes me want to try book reviews again.

Hostas: A Study of Shadow and Light - I really like these photos. Not only because of how they came out, but because of how they came to be. A product of pure camera play.

Transition from Squam & Words from Squam - OK another cheat with two posts in one, but they're short. And it's about Squam Art Workshops, a direct response from the Universe to my earlier post about craving creative community.

A Tale of Two Trees - A short tale about a boy and a girl and their first Christmas living together. I love living with that boy.

2009 coming up next!

5 Years Blogging - A Retrospective: 2007

This is the second in a series of five navel-gazing retrospective posts celebrating my five years of blogging in which I offer my top five posts for each year. For the first post looking back at 2006, click here. Also stay tuned for a celebratory giveaway at the end!

Having been an urbanite for a full year, 2007 didn't offer as much novelty as my first year living in the city, but it was no less full.

2007 was about a hiking, hiking and more hiking, and backcountry camping for the first time. It was about re-learning to be in a relationship and balancing that with my newly found sense of identity and independence. It was about listening to the whales under the moonlight with D. in Grand Manan, New Brunswick, and driving 12 hours to New Brunswick a few months later with Sis for a weekend of music at Mom & Dad's. It was about joining a weekly writing group, completing NaBloPoMo and dealing with what felt like the snowiest winter ever. And finally, it was about going back to work after an 11-month sabbatical, one of the biggest events to impact my energy that year.

my cozy urban balcony space

Here are my top five posts:

Sabbatical Reflections - Part I - I started feeling the strain of my impending return to work after 11 months off, but was - and still am - forever grateful for my sabbatical experience.

Grand Manan Pics Pre-fog and Post-fog - OK, I'm cheating here and including two posts in one entry, but I can't include one and not the other. Our camping trip to Grand Manan Island, New Brunswick, was downright magical. Whales below our cliff-top campsite, two full days of hiking and two bald eagle sightings. 'Nuf said.

view from our Grand Manan campsite

On Creativity... - Musings on how creativity must be part of my calling and how it made me feel alive and content. An awakening no doubt.

A Good Day - Short, sweet, powerful.

Meatpie Madness - Chronicling my first meatpie making adventure. Classic!

a tired me and a tired Cassie after a weekend of backcountry camping

Stay tuned for 2008...