Introducing ... Private Patterns

It's National Storytelling Week this week so it seemed like the natural time to launch Private Patterns my newest blog feature all about telling stories. 

Stories about you. 

Well, don't panic, I won't be telling stories about you ... that would be weird [and  where would I get my information?] but, if you choose to join me from time to time ... this series offers you a space to reveal a little something about the patterns of your life.

What are Private Patterns? 

Apart from being a blog series I've had scribbled in a notebook for over a year, and a name which has gone through a dozen changes, Private Patterns are:

• those actions, quirks, behaviours that you find yourself repeating.
• those small rituals you carry out daily, weekly, monthly. 
• those moments which, experienced singly, wouldn't be worth commenting on, but when repeated have a cumulative effect in defining your individuality. 
• those small experiences which, when repeated, begin to lay down the grooves upon which you continue to run. 

Now, the aim of the series isn't to spur us all in to major confessions about our deep seated obsessions! No.

• The aim is to mull, meditate, ponder and drift over what’s yours on a small, everyday, even mundane, scale.
• The thrill will come from revealing what you've always thought was just one of your 'little foibles' ... then discovering that someone else knows exactly what you mean because they do it too! 
• It's about connecting and realising that even though we're each a unique finished tapestry, we're made from the same threads that have been woven into others too. 

Those may be big claims but that doesnt mean the pattern itself needs to be deep and meaningful!

• It could be something as fun - but downright essential - such as how you eat a Kit Kat. Are you finger biter? Or snapper? Are you an edge-nibbler? A tea dunker?
• How about how you make or take your tea, the ritual you carry out. Milk first, last, never? What about the colour? Barely there? Bad false-tan-orange? 
• Or how do you organise the clothes in your wardrobe? By colour? Style? Season? Organise? What's organise? 

Stuck for ideas? Don't force it ... you'll catch yourself uncovering them when you least expect it. There are countless possibilities just waiting to be revealed ...

• Just let your mind wander to all those small things you repeat ...
• those things that are so near you're almost too close to see them clearly ...
• then take a step back ... as if moving your eyes away from a pixilated screen ... further and further back until you can see the bigger picture.
• That's where you'll find your private pattern. 

How will Private Patterns run?

• Once a month -  most likely on the 4th - I will share one of my own Private Patterns here on my blog.
• Anyone who wishes to do the same is welcome to join me.
• Mine will take the form of a piece of writing, probably with accompanying photos.
• Yours can be anything at all!! [Collage, journal page, scrapbook layout, poem, photograph].
• If you prefer you can share your #PrivatePatterns on Instagram. Just hashtag it and let me know @withjuliekirk
• Your topic doesn't have to have anything at all to do with mine! You choose what to write about. However ...
• You're more than welcome to take my topic as a starting point for your own. 
• After all it is pretty likely that at some point you'll make a - "I thought I was the only person who did that!!" - connection then feel inspired to share your side of the story.
• Reading other peoples' posts will become a great way to generate ideas on what you can share next.
• And ... it might be fun to occasionally all work to the same topic. If so, I'll let you know in well in advance.

OK ... that's enough vague planning!

I'll be back to share my first Private Pattern tomorrow. It involves a bathroom. 

Bet you can't wait.

Any thoughts or questions I'm here [there, and everywhere].

See you soon. 

Julie