Creatively Dabbling

I've been creatively dabbling* today and having a ball.  This particular dabble was inspired by a few events, as things often are, but the final push to actually move from just thinking about it to actually doing it came at a book club meeting a couple of weeks ago.  

My high school book club is a dream.  I tried to hold one last year, but the timing felt impossible, so although many kids were interested it got tabled and tweaked for this year.  This year, once Mega-Lunch started (that's a whole other post for a whole other day) I signed us up.  We meet every Tuesday during A lunch on the top floor of the library.  One of my senior library assistants basically runs it (he appointed himself President, and then appointed a VP, Sec. and Sargeant-at-Arms which cracks me up in the best way, y'all!) but I'm there to guide us back on track when the need arises.  

We recently read & discussed Jennifer Niven's All the Bright Places, and during that conversation, it came up that all of us like finding things in books.  We like writing in books, too (if we own them personally!) and marking things that make us think or feel something important. Sometimes we just like the way the sentence is so lyrically written, and it feels good to all of us to acknowledge those moments in the book in some way. 

Instantly this revelation paired up in my head with all I've seen about Operation Beautiful, writing nice things on sticky notes for others to find** and an idea was born. 

I found some clearance-priced artist trading cards at Hobby Lobby last week and bought a bunch of 'em and today have made time to start doodling simple but nice messages on them.  It is just a start, but it is a start.  I thought I'd make a few to get the book club started, and let the kids each take some to make, too.  We'll add some on actual sticky notes, some with specific book quotes, etc. and maybe even a few Easter Eggs (the gamer definition) that folks can bring to the circ desk to get some little prize.  We'll have fun, it will be interactive, and I think it will bring some smiles. 

*Becca's blog introduced me to this term.  If I don't have a creative outlet I get cranky, but I tend towards perfectionism for myself, so it helps me move past that roadblock into actually doing when I remember I am a dabbler and don't have to be "perfect".  :)

**okay, so here's something funny--in the messages on the Operation Beautiful website there is a comment from a librarian bemoaning the fact that someone put sticky notes w/ lovely messages in tons of library books, wasting valuable time and taxpayer money for her to have to go back in and pull them all out.  Um...I'm sure they had their reasons, and maybe there is more to the story, and perhaps it is because I work at a high school, so I am particularly used to shenanigans (and am the Head Shenanigator, in fact), but in any case, I love this idea.  

This month I will participate in the Slice of Life Challenge!

My goal is to Write. Share. Give. each & every day of March.  

Check out Two Writing Teachers for more info!