“The Thing I Didn’t Plan For…”

​Gather a small collection of materials you feel at home with—without closing yourself off to something new. Maybe that’s a crisply sharpened pencil, a few water-soluble markers, a pan of watercolor paints, and a fine-point Sharpie. Something that feels like a mix of fluidity and certainty—just enough comfort to begin, and just enough unfamiliarity to stay open.

1. Start with this sentence:
“I didn’t plan for…”
Write it at the top of your page.  Let yourself list 5–10 things you didn’t plan for this week or this season.
They can be tender, frustrating, surprising, or tiny.
(“I didn’t plan for the weather to change.” “I didn’t plan to feel homesick.” “I didn’t plan to rest that much.”)

2. Circle one that feels charged or emotionally sticky.
Something that tugged at your routines, your expectations, or your heart.

3. Turn that circled moment into a small piece of art.
Choose any medium--
a quick sketch, a collage using scraps, a cyanotype note, a block-printed mark, a coffee stain drawing, a line of poetry.

4. As you make, ask yourself:
What did this unplanned moment teach me?
How did it ask me to be flexible?
Where did vulnerability show up?
What new possibilities opened because of it?

5. Add one final line to the page:
“Here’s what I’m carrying forward…”
Write whatever comes, even if it’s one word.