Week 3 - Intuitive Collage + Zine-making

Collaging

If you missed last week's missive, see Week 2. Or you can start with Week 1 here.

Some loose thoughts to ground us in the transformative work beneath this week's creative practice...

Start here:

And before we carry on, sit and simmer for a second:

What don’t you know right now? What is something that is in the process of forming or layering or changing in your life?

And what is that experience like for you? I'd love to know how other people navigate this liminal space and if you find there's value to be found here, too. This is the edge of my current learning right now. Letting go of trying to control the outcome, believing I know exactly how things are going to pan out and instead, allowing things to unfold while actively leaving space for the magic. Life, as in creative practice, is a collaboration with the unknown.

With that, let's begin the making.

Gather your materials

First things first - we need to make a zine. It's easy and can be done in about a minute:

1. You can make one like me (see video).

2. Or, I also found this method is elegant, it just makes a smaller zine. If you go this way, I'd use a larger piece of paper (so you have room to glue all the things).

Whichever method you pick, you'll have three double-page spreads for collaging.

Next, grab your gathered materials: runny school glue, scissors, everything out that you cut out last week (symbols, words, and backgrounds). Lay everything out like a big buffet, put on some tunes, and YOU. ARE. READY.

How to make a zine (and how not to).

I've recorded audio so you can follow along with me during the collage process.

1) Start the process here with a little more context and tips around this practice of intuitive collaging:

Now dive in.

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2) For the second spread of your zine, listen here:

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3) And for the third and final spread of your zine:

As you surface from your creative practice, check in. How do you feel now?

And what does creative expression allow for you?

In my experience, side effects of collaging typically include feeling settled, in-flow, quieter in my mind, and more integrated (that feeling of being me and whole). But I'd love to know what happened for you in the comments.

Finally - AND THIS IS IMPORTANT - set your zine out to dry somewhere where all the pages are separated (to avoid an oh-no moment where it becomes one single page - this lesson was learned the hard way). And just leave it to sit. If you can, don't look at it (deeply, at least). Next week, we'll open our zines with fresh eyes, add some finishing touches, and reflect on what messages and meaning can be found in our collage.

Here's a peek into how it went for my partner and I, but we'll save the deeper look for next week, as well.

Now, bask in the glory of having been creative today. It is an incredible act of self love.