out with the old...in with the new

How excited I am about this theme right now...
the out with the old and in with the new.
it is really bringing a certain energy to my core right now.

As I was thinking through my last assignment for the year for Pink Paislee that posted today on their blog, I kept find words pop up in my head about the year I just travelled through.

This has been the most interesting year. In many respects it has been a very very hard year spiritually and emotionally. I have probably been the healthiest this year of the past decade. So I was all in for everything. I failed miserably on some issues. BUT...and this is a big but...I learned from those failings. I did.

The learning is not always fun, because we think we should know better by now...especially at my age...eh hem. But that is just it, the learning NEVER ends. Never. Not for a day. Not for a week. and most definitely not for a year.

So these words were coming through my heart pretty clear.

I adore how the Bella Rouge collection from Pink Paislee supported what I was doing here with this album. This cover page I cut apart one of the Ephemera tags that had those phrases. I wanted them to stand out on their own. Be kind...not only to others, but to myself. Ah...probably the hardest thing of all to do at times, do I hear an amen? Be strong...I have a faith that allows me to not be strong in myself, but in God who is always strong. And be you...this is about continuing to find my me. Who I am to be in all the challenges that come my way.

write. I was turned on to Julia Cameron's The Artist Way again this year. So this inventory is about the exercise to write daily. First thing in the morning. Three pages of whatever comes up. AH!mazing.

This has been so vital to my heart. They say that writing is the mirror of the mind. If you are like me you carry way too much in your mind. It not's perfection that this writing creates, but it's a certain perfecting of those thoughts that get a chance to get out of my head and rest somewhere else.

hospitality. Speaking of perfection...this word is by no means perfected in my life yet. But it found a place to be planted and begin to grow.

The 'be kind' word strip was perfect to sum this up for me. Hospitality is not always about having someone over in my home. Although that is indeed part of it. It's a state of heart. One that I am cultivating at a new level in so many ways. I love this process I am in right now.

open. Now that's a word with lots of context to it. This word was also inspired by my OLW for the year, 'seek'. It came right out of my adventure with that word.

This discovery has found me much more open with my heart and sharing it with others. Seeking wisdom and direction from friends and family. Laying it all out there...mostly the ugly...with the intent of allowing their words to help, heal and give me hope in my situation. I have prided myself in the past to be a private person. But it has found me still longing for certain connections with people around me.

There are several more words that have found their way in this mini album of inventory. I may share that with you another day.

But here's my challenge...find a WORD for your new year.
Resolutions are great.
Important.
Needful.
But if you are like me, they can fall through the cracks of everyday life. But a WORD for the year will do a certain magic in your heart IF you pursue it and allow it to take you where you wherever it will.
And then allow that word to do just that...take you where it will.
I pray with the LORD's help it will bring you to a deeper awareness of you and the life that surrounds you.

Many many blessings to you, my friend, this new year.
May you find a way to be done with the old,
and bring on the new.

See you next year.

seek

Seek encompasses so many things. But what I am really seeking here is connection. Connecting to this word this year in a daily way. My first list of things to do:: Seek daily.
For me that is a spiritual seek. To start the day quiet. Meditate. Read scripture. Pray. That is the most important seeking I can do.

But as a mentor of mine once said, "one has to always be re-creating themselves for a new success". (Note to self, quotes from a mentor would make a really great mini album.) So for me, the morning activity of seeking is a hub, if you will, a jumping off spot for seek to work it's way into the whole of my day. To be open to re creating myself and looking for new success.

And I do not mean monetary success, although that would be a rather wonderful benefit, but the success of who I am all suppose to be. To become. To seek the hidden that I can hide so well so as to become all I am to be.

I cannot underestimate the power of a single word to guide one through their year. I like to break up other aspects of my life with other single words or phrases, but a primary word is very important to help drive those other areas. While I have chosen a word for the past 5 or 6 years now, I have not always purposed to be active with it daily or even monthly. I am thankful that Ali Edwards provides this One Little Word online workshop, to help facilitate one's spiritual endeavors with a creative spill over. This month's prompts are not very creative, but they are thought provoking. I am keeping my book for now fairly basic, as I want those thoughts to take center stage for me when I re read my answers to the prompts.

I invite you, if you have not already, to come join a community of one little words and seek to find that which is leading you this new year.

one little word 2014

created in rhonna designs app

My one little word for 2014 is already at it again. One of the questions asked about the 'one little word' is "did you choose it or did it choose you?". It is safe to say that this word chose me this year. It started off early December. Lots of thinking and introspection even in the midst of a busy time of year. In the middle of all that thinking, this sweet word quietly walks in and simply stands there, smiling. What could I do but embrace it?

So embrace I did. Embraced even to the point of wanting to take Ali Edwards One Little Word 2014 class. This class really encourages one to face their word. Investigate it. Consider it on a deeper level. Be artistic with it. The class is a great way to hold me accountable. And I really want that right now.

So here is to a new year...
a new word...
and new adventure.

I can't encourage you enough, if there is a word, or a phrase, something that is capturing where you are and where you want to go...write it down. Place it visually somewhere. The power of the written word is amazing. And it can change lives.

Till next time...