Creative Practice: Locating Your Self

Naming & Claiming Your Sketchbook

I developed the habit of adding my street address inside my sketchbooks because I moved so much.

They became a record of where I was in time and place, but more importantly, revealed a way to practice belonging to my own life, as shared in the essay, The Authority of Your Own Experience:

A contact page in a sketchbook might seem inconsequential and small, almost administrative.

But it can function as a pattern interrupt to delaying our creative expression until later, some imagined future where all of our ducks are lined up in a perfect row.

Your name and contact pages declare: This book belongs to me and is created by me. I don’t have to wait for better timing, more confidence, or external approval before I begin marking it.

Create a Contact Page In Your Sketchbook

The following project will help you claim your sketchbook (or journal) as your own, by adding your name and contact information inside.

I’ll share how I created one of mine, that explores the theme of connection.