Skip to main content

Word of the Year

 A practice I've engaged in several times is choosing a word for guidance over the year ahead. 

My friend Kathleen has offered this in early January at our church for 7 or so years (virtually during lock down), and i joined the group again last weekend. 

We start with sharing our last word, the a review of the previous year, listing highs and lows - and look for themes. Feel into what you wish for this year ahead, and for a word to support you.  Kathleen invites us to use a dictionary or thesaurus as we come time this word.

Last year I chose Weave, as I wanted to save new friendships and experiences. One of my church friends began a singles group, and a Native Voices bookgroup, and also joined our Edible Landscaping group,  so deepened with current friends and wove in new ones! 

Weave - 2023

Our singles group meet Saturday for a wee feast,  and each drew a card from a Hawaiian healing deck. My card 'Kaulike' invites balance - and we bespoke finding balance between work and play, in relationships, in life.

Hawaiian Healing deck - Kaulike 

I chose this for my word of '24 - and may write it again on a lighter arrow! (Kathleen's were all nearly florescent!)

Kaulike - Balance

I invite you to spend some time with this process,  and choose a word of guidance for the year. 

  • Feel into how you want to work with your word - is there an affirmation?
  • A color?
  • A sigil? Cindy Jacobs will lead us in creating a sigil on our next circle call, (January 25!)
  • How will you give it form?
  • Perhaps sticky notes, an arrow (mine is on my bedroom wall) 
  • Write about it in your journal?
Your word may morph throughout the year - you may end up adding to it, choosing a word seasonally, changing as cots.  One year mine was Initiate, and as i worked with it, shifted to Initiation - both referred to taking action - the second seemed more active!

Have you chosen a word of the year?

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Altered Board Book

One of the earliest projects in our  Color of Woman teacher training was the invitation to create simple art journals, setting our intention, using simple supplies and an inexpensive composition book as the container. These journals, called Cosmic Smash Books by an earlier graduate, Catt Geller, became companions for many of us on our quest, holding notes, inspiration, and process pages. I made several that year, and many others since. We began and covered books in our last Red Thread Creatives circle, and this week,  created a grounding, resting or process page. We were led by Linda Allen, a CoW graduate and Smashbook Guide. Linda is a big fan of using junk mail and other throw away for booklets and pages. In our last session, I painted a cover for the journal I was already working in, using a sturdy paper bag from my daughter's stash. My youngest granddaughter came outside to paint with me, making hers for a spiral bound notebook. This week, I worked in an altered children's...
18 comments
Read more

Word of the Year

  For Several years, my friend Kathleen has offered a Word of the Year Playshop at our church in January.  She generally uses a more linear approach - using Dictionaries and Thesauri, after a quick review and release of any 'baggage' from the year just past ... This year , she invited a friend who facilitates Soul Collage (tm) to join us, and we chose images! Both Kathleen and Deandra brought a bunch of images from magazines, cards and calendars, and laid them out on several tables,  for us to gather from.  Card size is general 5×7" or 5x8" and we could choose from several colours of mat board for our background . Other materials included an index card, glue sticks and scissors.  My workstation We did a quick year review and release, then choose images, and started to fine tune and arrange them. After we'd glued the images, we paired up, and one of the dyad acted as scribe for the other:  I am the one who .. .. My partner, used to a more linear and 'heady'...
8 comments
Read more

I've got a Plan!

Last April, after the start of our  Artist in Residence time , Shiloh Sophia and her own business coach Amy Ahlers offered a creativity based business class called Dancing Entrepreneur. While most gals were from our creative community, several other creatives joined us. Posts which really caught my eye were of  Karen Dawn 's Visual Planning system , and I joined her Beta Test group on crafting similar systems of our own! I love Karen's creative approach to planning! (Her  blog  includes some of these teachings! She also introduced me to Neurographica!) Vision Plan Board My visual planner is on a foam board left over from a vision board class, and holds my Medicine Basket, one of the Dancing Entrepreneur action cards, a couple of Neuro-Noodles plus - pockets. Who doesn't love these little pockets? The clothesline is a ribbon, and I simply taped the ends to the back of the board using painter's tape! You can use nails or eye hooks to tack the lines directly on a wall -...
Post a Comment
Read more