How To Project: How to live

How to project – how to live. Create a banner, a physical reminder of words to live by.

Drawing on the insights from Josh Cohen’s blend of psychoanalysis and literary criticism (in this month’s book review), make a visual prompt of key words to hang where you’ll see them daily.

You’ll need:

• Paper from your ephemera collection – I’ve chosen some pages from The Illustrated Family Doctor

• Something to write with – a pencil or pen

• Something to colour with – ink, paint, crayon…

• Scissors

• String

• Glue stick

• Spare paper for notes

Step by step:

On spare paper, write down today’s five words to live by – no need to get caught up in philosophising – jot the first things that come to mind. I’ve chosen ‘listen’, ‘celebrate’, ‘dream’, ‘create’ and ‘sleep’.

Write each word on your chosen ephemera, leaving plenty of space above and below.

With your colour, frame each word in an oval….

…and colour in the background.

Cut a rectangle that extends above the word – this will leave enough to fold over to become the reinforcing back of each pennant. I used scissors, but you may want to measure and use a template, so that they are all the same size.

Arrange your five word pennants in a line, in the order you’d like them to read.

Cut a length of string, with extra on each end for loops.

Guestimate where the middle of the string is, and lay your central pennant underneath it. Glue the lower section and bring the top part down on top, sandwiching the string in the crease.

Continue until all your words are arrayed along the string.

Then hang in a prominent place for a regular nudge towards equilibrium.

Please share your creations! #howtolivebanner @thetravellingbookbinder on Instagram, on Facebook, and Twitter.

Live well!