club keepsake #007

creative prompts, inspiration harvesting, and 4 films for summer nights

collage by all of us via pinterest

My whole life I’ve been inspired by the person I’m going to be. I could always see her so clearly, even if indecision gave her different forms, she was always pulling me towards her. I think I even answered the question once, of who my personal hero is, by proudly declaring that I am my own. There’s just nobody else on earth who has what I want quite like my future self.

I’m in the new practice of daily journaling, one of my goals for July, and it connects me even deeper to all versions of myself. Past, present, and future are blended there on the page, and it’s something like a seance to put pen to paper and call them all in.

I’m sitting at the lakehouse now, skin worn from the sun and morning air wet from slumber. I’ve been here three days now and have four more to go. So far the time has been spent lounging on the dock, reading with a bowl of cherries nearby, but as we head into the week the weather is taking a stormy turn. I’m grateful for whatever weather summer wants to give me. I like the comfort of this house in the woods. I like watching thunder roll across the lake and turn the sky that faded dove white.

It gives me time to do more sitting and thinking. More reading and writing. More of nothing, which lest we forget, is what July was built for us to do. I’m awake right now before the rest of my house and soon I’ll put on a pot of coffee for them. In a few hours I’ll play tennis, skip down the hill to the water, make jokes and snack boards and play cards on the patio, but for right now I am still.

Still is such a wonderful person to be.

previously on club keepsake

In June we were in process of becoming the bloom, and I can confidently say we’ve each blossomed into our own spring flower. Let me know in the comments what flower you are, I’d love to visualize us as this great big bouquet! I think I can safely say I’m some kind of peony.

I set forth a few creative prompts for June, and received this response from the lovely and talented Maja:

do: Try one thing that you’ve never done before. It can be learning how to do a cartwheel, taking an art class, eating a certain food for the first time, anything. You never know what good things come after that discomfort of newness!

“I started writing fiction again for the first time since I was a kid! When I was in elementary school, all I did was write stories. Somewhere along the way to teen-hood, though, I started to view fiction writing as unserious, childish, a waste of time. I stopped.

And last week I decided: why not try it out again this summer? I loved it so much as a kid, maybe I'll have fun. So I set a goal: 250 words of fiction, every day of July. Even if it's awful, I can write about anything for 250 words, can't I?

Turns out: I can, and it's been amazing. I start writing in the morning and never know where my imagination might take me. I've written about medieval princes and faraway lands, troubled friendships and of the inner lives of trees. I feel that I learn something new about myself every day through my writing. Not only that, but I also have more energy for my nonfiction writing as well afterwards.

I'm so glad I decided to take a chance on my kid self again this summer 🌞”

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July Prompts

In the spirit of slowing things down, we’re going to have a very gentle July here on keepsake. I have come out and declared it an anti-productivity month, so any heavy lifting we do can just be a wonderful surprise instead of a strict expectation we put on ourselves.

What is something you’ve done lately to take care of you? How do you reset your nervous system? Listen to your body right now— can you feel where you’re holding stress? Relax, let go, and come be healed by the waters of July: