Week 4-Lesson 1: What's Your Word?

“The chief beauty about time
is that you cannot waste it in advance.
The next year, the next day, the next hour are lying ready for you,
as perfect, as unspoiled,
as if you had never wasted or misapplied
a single moment in all your life.
You can turn over a new leaf every hour
if you choose.” 
― Arnold Bennett

I absolutely LOVE new beginnings. Mondays, the start of a new month...there is something about a FRESH start that fires me up. And this Friday is the beginning of a whole new YEAR! And not just any year, mind you. 

I

turn

FIFTY

in

2016!!

So I MUST do something BIG, right? Follow my Heart! Reach my Goals! Live like there is no tomorrow!

For the past ten years or so I have chosen ONE WORD to act as my Guide throughout the year...a compass to keep me on track and remind me of where I want to go. Some of my past have Words have been...

Possibilities

Reinvent

Story

True

Move

My Word last year was COMMIT. My intention with that Word was to actually STAY committed to my weight loss goals, art goals and house goals. What ended up happening was unexpected but in the very best way possible!! Even though my weight is still on (ugh, I have gained, too) and my house isn't anywhere NEAR organized (although I DID clear out quite a bit) and I never got around to sending in that album I created for Somerset Studios (THIS YEAR!) what I DID Commit to and STICK with was finding the very best place for my girl. Anasazi proved to be the guiding force in our life that has healed us and made us whole again. My girl has PEACE in her Heart and plans for an outstanding future!!

My Word for 2016

This year I thought long and hard about my Word and was CERTAIN I had it picked out! The Word JOY kept coming up...actually it has come up throughout 2015 and has become my secondary Word this year!! I have tried to implement JOY in my Heart daily (not always succeeding!) so I thought I would just extend JOY into 2016. 

But

then

as 

ALWAYS

happens...

I decided to brainstorm Word ideas cause the more I thought about JOY the more I wanted to be SURE. I take this One Word thing VERY seriously! So I created a list of Words...

Consistent

Heart

Receive (I ALMOST chose this one)

Joy

Alive

Connected

Awake

Present

Open

Perservere

And then it HIT me!!

What do I want this year?

More friendships

Closer to my husband

Really listening to my Heart when it comes to my Art

Closer to my Mama

More writing

Etc....

I want CONNECTIONS...

to my Heart

my Art

Friends

Dave

Mama

My Word for 2016 is 

CONNECT

I have let that sit with me for a week now and the more I think about it the more excited I get!!

YOUR Challenge this week

If you haven't all ready...take out your journals and start listing Words that resonate with you. Think about what you want MORE of. Go back to your collages from a few weeks ago and LOOK at what you gathered on your page...here was mine again...

By the end of the week try to have your 2016 Word picked out and ready to create with!! 

And remember to join me here Thursday for our second Challenge of the week. 

Thanks for being here girls!!!

My Word &Goals-Update

I've been thinking a lot lately about my WORD for 2011. After all there's just 4 and a half more months of the year left! Pretty crazy, right?

So my WORD is Reinvent. Here is an excerpt from a post last January...

I chose REINVENT because I want to become a better me. I want to take a look at my life and know that I have been successful in many areas of my life and I know I can use those success's to help me find my way with future goals. I love many parts of me but there are those areas in my life that need help. In 2011 I want to become whole. I want to take my passions that fuel my spirit and fly!!

 

I really love the part that says "I want to take my passions that fuel my spirit and fly". Have I done that? Absolutely! I have taken 3 different on-line art courses, signed up for my first Craft Show and am planning my first e-course for this Christmas.  I am pursuing my passions and trying to live my very best life. My spirit is definitely flying!


I set lots of goals for myself this year. Below is my list I created last January 1st along with a note if I have completed or am working on the goal.

Goals for 2011

Blog:

1) Write quality posts at least 3 times a week {did it}
2) Become more active in LBS, read other blogs, comment and share ideas {did it}
3) Promote women Bloggers on Words of Me Project with "Blogger of the Week" along with interviews
4) Grow "Skinny Me" to 100 plus followers while encouraging women to feel good about who they are and where they are going in this life and to BE HEALTHY!!
5) Support and encourage my friends who blog by reading, leaving comments and promoting their blogs here {see #3} {did it}
6) Uplift, encourage and inspire {I try my best!}
7) Post more scrapbook ideas, art journaling pages and other projects with directions {did it}
8) Write an art journaling with words e-course {Coming this Christmas!}

Health:

1) Write honest posts on "Skinny Me" sharing my journey with others {sometimes}

2) Get my teeth work done as well as the tests I need to start feeling better physically {YeS!}

3) Focus on whole foods rather than processed {YeS!}

4) Cut out diet soda {going on DAY 4 without a diet soda!!}

5) Cut out sugar in my diet {gives me migraines!!}

6) Workout 4 to 5 times a week for at least 30 minutes {Did it}

Family:

1) Family Home Evenings at least twice a month {did it}
2) Be kinder to one another{yes}
3) Continue with monthly menus...this helps so much when we are busy!!! {yes}
4) Take each Monday as my "Weekly Home Blessing Hour" {love this!}
5) Remember Fly Lady's "7 in 2011" I can do it!
6) Continue family prayer on our knees every night
7) Take time for a family game night at least 2 to 3 times a month {getting back to that}

Spirit:

1) Draw closer to my Savior Jesus Christ by studying His Word, reading the Ensign magazine and prayer {yes and continue working on that}

Art:


1) Learn and try new painting and art techniques this year {Yes}
2) Take Soul Restoration starting January 11th and FINISH it!! Do every single activity!! Put the time and effort in!! {yes}
3) Share my art on Words of Me Project {Yes}
4) Give a piece of art to a friend or family member {yes}
5) Take time this year to tackle the book "The Artist's Way" {Goal for 2012}
6) Do another "31 Days" creative challenge here {look for this in March! {yes}
7) Submit one piece of art to a magazine or blog for possible publication {Still thinking about it!}
8) Submit an article to an on-line magazine {still thinking about it!}

Wow! I hadn't gone through my list in months...it feels good to know I have accomplished so many of my goals-WHOO HOO!

Before this year ends I have several more goals I hope to make happen.

1. Have a successful show in Clarinda
2. Keep drawing and sketching and try my hand at doodles
3. Submit a piece of work of Stampington
4. Finish my e-course and offer it this December-FREE!! {be on the lookout}
5. Announce my "Smash 45" {can't wait to share this with you!!!}
6. Write my first course about Art and Healing and teach locally in 2012
7. Create a Blog Button for my e-course

It is a most mortifying reflection

for a man to consider 

what he has done,

compared to what he might have done. 

~Samuel Johnson, in Boswell's Life of Johnson, 1770

Did you choose a WORD for 2011? What was it? Is it time to reassess your goals and see how far you've come this year? Please share!

2010 Word

The great poet Emily Dickinson said "I dwell in possibility."

I just love the thought of "dwelling in possibility". Don't you do that? Dream about what could be. What you would like it to be.

As I was thinking about my Word for 2010 my mind kept coming back to this quote and the word possibility-I love it!

–noun, plural -ties for 2.
1. the state or fact of being possible: the possibility of error.
2. something possible: He had exhausted every possibility but one.

So this year, the beginning of a NEW decade I've picked the word

POSSIBILITY

This is the year I write my book. This is the year I get back into running and train for the Denver Half Marathon. This is the year I serve others with sincerity and love. This is the year I find peace in being me.

This is the year of possibility.