And after the gentle rocking by the strong old woman through the long, dark night? (See Friday 7th January, story collected by Gloria Pinkola Estés). The old and weary man grew younger and younger, and became a small and very beautiful child with golden hair, plaited like wheat. Just as dawn broke, the old woman quickly plucked three hairs from the young child's head and threw them on the floor - and the child crawled down from the old woman's lap, paused at the door to give her a dazzling smile, then flew up into the sky to become the brilliant morning sun ...
The three hairs? They represent the need to throw away, to let go of some things or ideas before new energy can flow. In the quiet rocking, it's time 'to get right down to the bones of everything and anything in your life'. Those of you who visit regularly will probably smile, knowing that simplifying and letting go is music to my ears.
So although I am not yet done with musing and stillness, one hair that I am going to let go of, is the struggle to work out where everything in scrapbooking and journalling belongs in the welter of December, Christmas, Daily Life, My Holiday projects and albums. Should a journal be kept separate from the photo album? If a page has drawing, or paint or collage too, does that go in a writing journal or an art journal? Supposing it's got a few photos as well - is that the photo album, then? Water needs clear edges to flow, or it will sink away into shallow, swampy, silted fringes ...

It's all going in one place this year. One chunky, richly-textured volume, with pockets, flaps and hiding places for more private work, and spreads, inserts, and booklets for photos and journalling which record the year. There'll be room for fabric work, digital work, anything where creative energy flows. On the front, it will simply say 'This is 2011'.
Ikea's catalogue (we've perused it often enough during the renovations!) is, aptly, providing a template: photos one side, journalling the other. I feel the creative juices gathering already ... Here's the template I've been making and playing around with:
By Monday, the first fortnightly spread will be done. There have been some queries about how I'm going to print and store the New 52 layouts - I'll include this too. Oh, and I love the serendipity of that catalogue page title 'What do you love?' That I can be clear about. Simplicity. :)