once more. with feeling

the habit of writing thus for my own eye only is good practice. it loosens the ligaments.
never mind the misses and the stumbles. - virginia woolf

it's unmistakably that time of the year when resolutions are being made, and i am no exception to that regimen. i stand staring at my diaries store cupboard. here we find ourselves. once more. 

an intimate diary is interesting especially when it records the awakening of ideas; - andré gide

in my quest to free up studio space, i want to rid myself of the past. one hunded and thirty notebooks, of which eighty+ are handwritten diaries. how to go about ripping them? 

the good writer seems to be writing about himself, but has his eye always on that thread of the universe
which runs through himself and all things. - ralph waldo emerson

a garden firepit will create more CO2 than i care for in already polluted air. papershred the volumes might kill a shredder or two (or more). scanning pages first is a no go. i've stranded repeatedly at volume 1.

i am taking up my journal again after a long break. i think it may be a way of calming this nervous excitement
that has been worrying me for so long. - eugène delacroix

so i'm still standing, growing an extra foot, and thinking, i need to do something, and it needs to be funny. it needs to involve fun. and what it also needs is air. air to breathe, and stuff to share. 

even one task fulfilled at regular intervals in a man’s life can bring order into his life as a whole;
everything else hinges upon it. - eugène delacroix

yes. involve you, dear reader, in some way, by sharing with you a biography of sorts. that would be my contribution to this end-of-another-year's resolutions. {and it'll keep me going a few years, undoubtedly.}

♥ have a beautiful new, first week of a pristine new year. ♥

and so the journey begins

i remember a path in the village i grew up in. in any season, the lane lead me to fantasy, to day dreaming and to inner peace, by the time i walked back home. over youth, i made that path mine. 

the walkway lay very uneven, since tractors used it, as did dog lovers, mountain bikers and attentive walkers. but somehow i hardly ever crossed anyone when i walked it, each of us chosing our moments well. 

where i live now, there's paths like that. some are familar and well trodden, others i can't find back for the life of me. seasons colour in landscapes beyond recognition sometimes. but i kind of love that aspect.

paths, of course, stand witness to different meanings. it's good to find yourself on a straight path, although curly wurly ones offer fantastic scenery. it's good to stay on a path, but often alluring beauty lies on side trails. 

i like dirty paths too, and soft mushy earth your boots sink into, given you are wearing the proper gear to get sucked in by brown muck. it's all so alive this freshness, especially in winter. winter makes me feel humble. 

and humble leads me to tradition, don't ask me how. don't ask me why. i pull from my library sarah ban breathnach's TRADITIONS and hope to find solace on these dark winter days. merry christmas. ♥ 

{all images from recent walk in idegem, geraardsbergen}

i am sailing

from Celine's website: "I am an artist. I color my views in red, yellow and blue. Wish me wel with my fantasy."

i've been sailing. or perhaps i should say bobbing around. i've also traveled some. and i have nursed the 'perfect' cold. it's grey days outside, the snow has disappeared. today the rains seem to have stopped. 

dordrecht, wijnstraat

i managed to travel up to Dordrecht, to meet up with Celine and at last witness one of her gigantic drawings in real life (above). we had coffee and cake at Villa Augustus, and managed walking in dry air.

dordrecht, historic part of town

i've traveled cos my head needed nursing too. i needed to be somewhere else, talk to others, to strangers even if such would be the case. trains in holland are just as bad as trains in belgium. mhmmm. 

dordrecht, xmas time in shop windows

all this to say indeed, i am sailing. how cool is that song and video and how young was i? and how about you's? the xmas tree isn't up yet, bummer. maybe sunday. maybe i'll show it too. stay warm, stay safe. x

fuzzy photo on a rainy day, villa augustus, to be revisited, @ladies....

i wish i could give you more of dordrecht to view... will not happen. the weather was unfair and i need to come back to snap better images. spring in dordrecht... sounds good. now for the company ☺.

have a beautiful week ahead ♥

old bones

we're the old bones, i sometimes feel. because, who's still blogging? thought so. IG stories are rising and that means that so much talk is being poured into ever shorter messaging. which is fine, but short. 

i've come to name my posts here newsletters. i have no idea who are reading these. i don't keep stats, didn't ever. but who is still summoning up the courage to read? because that's what it is about.

one needs time, one needs space, and preferably not a hand sized reader that doesn't allow room for comfort. and one needs an open mind, a will to navigate, to stand still, to observe. are you still reading any? 

there's few blogs i follow and i read in depth. my mode of reading up has changed considerably too. and i miss those olden times, those windows into other people's homes, miles and miles away from my own. 

the words we spoke, the phrases we exchanged. we've all seen them being reduced to stickers, gifs and emojis. i dare almost say, what a waste of language. but then evolution is perhaps this?... daring to change....

i've added images from WATOU SUMMER EXHIBITION, and am too lazy at this point to look up who is who. sorry, artists. will do at some point. 

♥ have an excellent week ahead everyone. ♥