Live in Balance: A to Z Challenge - L is for...

L is for...Life

Close up: Tree of life drawing on handmade paper

Today's journal entry has an art element again. Please have a look at the pictures below for you to create your own - no video clips this time, I promise.

Why life? Why not something mundane like lists or leopards or logs? Hey, this is a journal series about the journey to happiness, and life plays a big part in that, don't you agree?

Tree of life

I chose to do a drawing of a tree because they are some, if not the, longest living entities on our planet. The African baobab tree, for example, can grow to be hundreds of years old.

There are tales about trees (see the story here about the spirit of the Knob Thorn Tree) and even more tales, I think, that trees could tell about us. About the things they have observed and been exposed to.

Perhaps it is lucky then, that our communication with these living giants is limited to the appreciation of their beauty. Mainly since I think that their tales would be sad and filled with tragedy and destruction of all they had observed of the human race.

Life of your happiness...in the moment

But our objective is to find happiness, instead of focusing on the negative. For today your challenge is to find the happiness in your life and the life of your happiness.

• Note the date and time of your entry.
• Note the place where you are and the state of your health.
• Then take a few moments to observe your surroundings.
• What in your immediate environment makes you happy to be there? Note your feelings on your observations and your life as it is in this moment.

Our lives are not nearly as long as that of some trees, so we need to make the most of every moment that we have.

• Note your particular feelings on the subject of living in the moment, and how you can make the most of it.
• Think back on what happiness is (http://linzebrandon.blogspot.com/2017/04/atozchallenge2017-H.html) and reflect on how you can apply those principles to live in the moment.

My drawing with ink and Lyra Brush pens on handmade paper. You are welcome to copy my design if you like, or do your own. Size is about 8.5 cm in diameter because it was the size of the container's cap I used to draw the circle.

I tore the paper (using the edge of an old CD since it was a little larger) instead of cutting it out with a pair of scissors. I wanted to keep the rugged edge feel of the handmade paper. Then I glued it into my journal with acid-free glue before writing the words for the entry.