Little Treat Cards For the Soul

Today is an extra special blog post. I recently picked up Susannah Conway’s (of the popular Unraveling E-Course) brand new book ‘This I Know’, a searingly heart-piercing memoir of personal discovery and soul-healing through grief and art. Susannah’s deeply moving writing peppered with her one of a kind, dreamy, ethereal polaroid photographs makes for an incredibly heartfelt read, every word radiating with so much rawness and sincerity. Each chapter ends with a little creative exercise that helps to aid in our own creative and personal unraveling. I read a chapter each night before bed, it is like a comforting glass of milk, sweetened with honey.

This I Know Susannah Conway

This is one of my favorite exercises so far (I’m still reading it). The 20 Small Treats. In this exercise, Susannah tells us to prepare a list of 20 small treats on index cards, photographs or polaroids that we can place in a box, or in my case, a little glass jar, to pick from as often as we like. The 20 small treats are little joyful activities that we turn to for a lift in the spirits or a creative rejuvenation.  I decided to draw and paint my own set on little die-cut tags instead of using photographs. We are encouraged to add to it over time and I am already looking forward to when my set of initial 20 is completed so I can dip into it for a little treat every now and then.

Susannah Conway This I Know

What are your 20 small treats? Mine include chatting with mom on the phone, a cup of frozen yoghurt, a day at the Getty Museum, reading a new book…

UPDATE: I just realized I did a similar exercise sometime back here, called Simple Pleasures. Susannah’s 20 Small Treats is definitely a much more refined, elegant and applicable version!