line drawing
by Kristen
I’ve been drawing the same doodle for twenty-five years. Classmates in junior high, band members in high school, colleagues in work meetings—they’ve all seen it.
It was an assignment in a fifth grade art class: create a pattern of straight lines drawn in triplicate. And I’m still practicing it on to-do lists and meeting agendas.
Each one is unique. The length and angle of the lines are never identical. The spacing varies. But the differences are a bit like the distinctions between snowflakes. No one is going to notice at a glance. They look remarkably the same.
I start with a blank space and pick a place for the first pen stroke. The rest follow. I don’t plan them. I rotate the paper and draw in the next lines that make sense. I don’t know what the finished product will look like. I draw from, not to.
Like writing.
I start with a blank space, and I pick a point from which to start—a word, a phrase, an image in my mind that I put down in words. The rest follows. The end is a mystery when I begin. I write from, not to.
Sometimes something takes shape. The next line makes sense. Other times I work myself into a corner or run up against a conundrum.
But the beauty of working with simple media—lines and words—is that the possibilities are endless. The combinations, the angles, the connections . . . I can wield my pen forever and never discover them all.
So, don’t mind me, I’m waiting to see where the pen will take me today.
I can’t wait to see where it takes you!
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More, more . . . the beauty of interaction between the mind God gave you, the words He gifted you to use and how you employ them is AMAZING! we are blessed to be your readers.
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Thank you, Jenni–you know I can’t not write, so there will be more. It’s crazy humbling to think the words I write to find my place in life connect with others, too, but I’m glad God has bigger plans than I do (since we both know sharing “publicly” is not my favorite thing to do).
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