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I was thrilled to be asked for one of my drawings for this collaborative calender. This Starfish is a tangle drawing based on the ZenTangle movement. While I am not an offical ZenTangler, which requires special classes, I have embraced the methodology of creating tangles as a form of meditation and joy seeking. I was diagnosed with Seasonal Affective Disorder in my late 20's. The Fall of 2020 was particularly bad for all the same reasons this fall season was bad for just about everyone. I had pretty good coping skills but more was needed to make it through the dark season. In consultation with my Family Doctor, I choose to do the BounceBack program from the Canadian Mental Health Association. I highly recommend this program. The last exercise I choose asked me to consider what activity I had given up or stopped doing that used to bring me joy. The idea was that I would do something I enjoyed and I would share it with others as anxiety and depression can cause you to withdraw from both people and activities. Years ago I had enjoyed sketching and drawing. When I started again in late January 2021, I posted my creations on Instagram. This Starfish was created on November 14, 2021 - during what is the start of SAD season for me. I am happy to share it with you and to invite you to consider what joyful activities you have left behind that are worth revisiting.

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All tracks for the months here: https://dogtrax.bandcamp.com/album/clmooc-2022-calendar-music

Video Reflection: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4mTcWYJoh0s

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2022's threshhold
is open,
door flung open
sun warm and flower full.
We are all young girls
thin-limbed
Brushing the pollen
from our wild hair
as we step across
into the new
unflattened calendar.

Tellio

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A Redwing - a winter visitor to Scotland from Scandinavia that likes feeding on the berries of the Rowan trees.

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Image and poem: Sheri Edwards (@grammasheri)

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Every day in 2021, I doodled, annotated a photo, wrote a poem, and completed a Daily Create. I'm a novice artist in my retirement as a middle school teacher. I take classes and watch videos-- Skillshare, YouTube, and Instagram [from my Skillshare teachers].

North of our shrub-steppe area of eastern Washington, USA, the forests look this way when my husband and I hop in the car for a quick outing. One of my art group friends recommended a video lesson by James Julier in which he taught his process for creating this painting in Procreate on the iPad. I was quite pleased with this since our trees look just like this in winter. And the twilight sky through the outstretched limbs of the lovely tree is so hopeful of the coming spring, of which buttercups can often be found at the end of February. And so, the poem.

Happy New Year, and blessings to you in whatever ventures-- art, writing, hiking, etc-- you take. But do find something you love, even if you're not good at it, and do it-- share it with your friends and family. And perhaps start your own group and calendar sharing.

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For the second year I curated and designed the CLMOOC Calendar. I was inspired by an artists calendar (Michael Leunig) to hand write the monthly tags . I wanted something unique, personalised and not too polished. The design for the calendar focuses on the image with the rest of the page rendered in grey scale. Kevin's music qr code is neatly tucked into the bottom corner. There appears to be a lot of white space but this is to allow for various printing and binding options for a global audience. I've spiral bound my version on the long edge, providing some rigidity for plain paper printing.
During the design phase I placed some images to match the music for that month and some images according to a concept. Opening the year with an open door and closing with a reflective sunset (or maybe sunrise). It is such a joy to participate in this community and connect with these educators to complete this project.

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Last August Niall and I stayed in a lodge at Auchnacraig on the Isle of Mull, a short walk from the coast. A flock of sheep wandered through the fields around the lodge, grazing freely. This ram was happy to pose for me as we walked home one afternoon - I love the way that it looks as if he is looking through binoculars. Mull is one of our favourite places in the world - it is so beautiful, and being able to visit again after lockdown made it even more special.

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Image and poem: Charlene Doland (@inspirepassion)

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As a first step in thinking about this year's calendar, I went through the photos I took in 2021 and dumped those that appealed to me into a digital album. Many of my choices were nature or gardening based, as the living world always has things to teach me.

This particular image jumped out at me because of the strong contrasts between the rounded, compact, brightly colored ladybug and the prickly, sprawling, not-very-cute dandelion. I prefer seeing the ladybug, as she loves to feed on garden pests. At the same time, I know the dandelion serves just as important of a purpose because it pulls carbon from the atmosphere and sinks it back into the soil.

Thoughts of the importance of all living things, in balance, inspired the poem. The version in the calendar is actually a remix Wendy did of my original, which is found below. I also did a voice recording, found here.

‘Lessons’

green and red
spiky and smooth
moving and still

each with a part to play

may we hearken
to nature’s lessons

that obnoxious person
needs to be heard
the timid one
needs affirmation
the ever-happy one
needs to cry

“as day yields night,
so winter summer
war peace…”

balance and harmony
yin and yang

as we freely offer
love and compassion,
we share the burden
of another

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Free PDF version