1. Go visit the Des Moines Art Center. Walk around, check out the exhibits: paintings, sculpture, photography, etc. Find a piece or two you specifically like, find a spot to sit, and reflect on it in your journal. Though it's a different medium, it still has an argument. The artist is still trying to express something just as we do in writing. Spend some time journaling about the artwork you've chosen, what you think it's saying, and how the artist communicates that. You may also extend your journal to include reflection on what you saw/noticed/enjoyed as you walked through the Art Center as a whole, but we are looking specifically for the way you view these "visual arguments" and how they may speak differently than written word.
Hours of Operation
Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday: 11 am — 4 pm
Thursday: 11 am — 9 pm
Saturday: 10 am — 4 pm
Sunday: Noon — 4 pm
Closed Monday
Admission is FREE
4700 Grand Avenue
Des Moines, IA 50312-2099
2. Go outside as Byrd Baylor suggests and slow down, notice your surroundings, celebrate nature. Sure, it's cold. But if you bundle up and you're smart about it, you might just find it enlightening, interesting, enjoyable even! Here are two options:
- Get up and watch the sunrise as Baylor encourages. Take your journal (and maybe a thermos of coffee) and watch and then write. What new perspective does being up early, outside and alone in the cold give you? What do you see? Hear? Feel? Describe it. Reflect on what we as modern humans miss that generations of people before us saw everyday.
- Go out to Ahquabi or Annett Nature and go on a winter hike. Again, take your journal; take some time to notice what you see, hear, feel. Where do you go? How is it different in winter than your spring, summer, fall hikes? Journal about the experience, the memories it brings you, the interesting things you see, the thoughts that come while you have time to yourself in a new environment.
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