1000 Journals

Confession - 1000 journals has been going since 2000 and I only just discovered it! I feel a bit embarrassed and out of touch. It sounds like such a wonderful project - 1000 journals were sent out into the world to be added to and passed on. From the web site:

"The goal is to provide a method for interaction and shared creativity. If you ask a kindergarten class how many of them are artists, they'll all raise their hands. Ask the same question of 6th graders, and maybe one third will respond. Ask high school grads, and few will admit to it. What happens to us growing up? We begin to fear criticism, and tend to keep our creativity to ourselves. Many people keep journals, of writing or sketching, but not many share them with people. (when was the last time a friend invited you to read their diary?) You will not be judged here. And you will have company. This is for you. For everyone."

What a fantastic idea and sentiment. You can view scanned images from journals, track where they are in the world and get updates on the status of different journals. But the above statement also makes me feel a bit down - it's so sad that we lose the link to our inate creativity as we grow older. I could get up on my soapbox and say it's society's fault (the schools don't teach it they discourage it, artists are undervalued, we have to focus too much on earning a living rather than 'playing', etc, etc) but really we each just have to make a choice to not let go of those things that make us happy, even if we can only find the time to do it very occasionally.