Spiritual Journey (first) Thursday is gathered here today. We are writing about our chosen One Little Word that will guide our year. Choosing a one little word is supposed to be easier than making resolutions. I suppose the theory is you will break your resolution in a month or so, but a word can be revisited time and time again and bring about new meaning and purpose to your life.
Placing the weight of inspiration on one little word seems daunting, but the fun and marvelous thing about language is that words can have many meanings and purposes. And every word’s meaning is up to interpretation.
I believe in trusting that a word will find you, and once it does, you must resist the urge to flick it away. Like the buzz of a mosquito, it will find its way back to you anyway.
When I was at NCTE this fall, my friend Fran passed around a stack of magnets with words on them. She didn’t hand us one; she asked us to choose. The word that chose me was Explore. The magnet said Explore new possibilities. I decided not to question why the word found me. I just placed it on my fridge.
Then I received an invitation on Facebook to join a group of writers to “Explore your Natural Creativity” for the #30for30Challenge. Anastasia Suen posts a check-in every day, Did you create for 30 minutes today?
A student gave me a new journal for Christmas. The cover says “Do one thing every day that inspires you,” and each day there’s a different creative prompt.
Once I head back to school next week, my exploration into my own writing and creativity will be more difficult to make time for. I also have to squeeze in ukulele practice (see this post) and exercise. Oh, and reading, and crochet, and cooking, and walking the dog…
Years ago when I read The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron, I was enamored of the idea of an artist date. She said you should make a date with yourself once a week to explore a museum or gallery. She believed in feeding the artist soul. That is where I want to take my word Explore...out into the world to see where it will take me.
If you are joining the round-up, click the Inlinkz button to add your post. Be sure to visit other blogs and leave comments.
Hello Margaret. Appreciations for this inspiring first post, a New Year’s gift basket of art ideas. So glad you will EXPLORE. I’ll add my post link soon, about nature nourishing me. The words calling to me for One Little Word are winnowed, with selection bound to occur before January folds into February.
Margaret, I love how “explore” has chosen you! For a number of years I kept the tag line “Live. Love. Explore.” on my various websites… there’s a Mark Twain quote I love: “Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” (I also once called my blog “Explore. Dream. Discover.” ! So your word is also my word for LIFE, it seems. 🙂 I look forward to learning more about your explorations. xo
p.s. I love your graphic and would love to use it all year, if that’s okay!
Thanks for the quote. I think I will create something with it soon. Today I explored my own backyard with my iPhone on hand. Beauty is all around.
I cannot tell you how much I loved this post. I can relate SO much to so many things you wrote about. I am still contemplating what my One Little Word is… I have been thinking about words like enough (reminding myself that I am enough, no matter what AND that often I have enough around me – I don’t need to want for more), grace (to take whatever life hands me-professionally and personally- with grace), and present (which is something that I need to work on all the time)…
Thanks for sharing, Margaret. I am so glad that I have the opportunity to read your work!
Your word will find you. My personal favorite word I’ve had was present. I liked it so much that the next year I chose cherish. Grace is just a beautiful word. We all need grace for ourselves and for others.
This post was a perfect way to start our year! It was so well-presented – the way that special word selects us! Thanks for all your hard work and constancy. Love your 2018 image, too.
Thanks so much for hosting, Margaret, and for inspiring us with your wonderful word EXPLORE! I also love Irene’s quote, above. It makes me want to stride into the day… and the year.
Margaret, I can see how the one word EXPLORE is a good fit for you. It is a graceful word with a spiritual side and a way to find the joys of life. As you explore life, may your creativity continue to shine a light for all. Happy New Year. I am posting soon.
Hello All: And Happy New Year!
Your posts have given me so many wonderful ideas that I don’t know where to begin. So… I’m just jumping in.
I jumped in earlier and told Irene that I would use the word RESOLVE as my one little word for the year. You may remember that I forgot my word last year. Yes… embarrassing! So maybe I chose RESOLVE thinking: I resolve to write my word down somewhere where I will look at it often and remember to mull on it throughout the year. And I did the first part. I have RESOLVE written on a sticky note, stuck just above my desk. But then I thought about it a little more.
When I think of a person with resolve, I think of someone whose mind is made up, who has a plan and intends to follow it. A person of discipline. Someone who will “gut it out” if necessary. I felt that resolve meant to have an unvarying intention to go in a designated direction, or to act in a certain way. So I might resolve to write every day, for instance.
But none of that spoke to me.
Within an hour of choosing RESOLVE, I was questioning my choice. I wanted to flick it away. My inner voice was saying: come on, Karen…. your life is full as it is, you can’t just resolve to fit writing in every day (as a for-instance) and have any realistic expectation of it happening. There has to be some other word that allows for more flexibility. Etc.
But then something interesting came to me. RESOLVE can also be looked at as RE-SOLVE. To come to new solutions. To be free to find new answers. I like that interpretation much better. I could really get behind RE-SOLVING my use of time and talents. I’d love to find new ways to express myself and make time to practice writing. I’d love to RE-SOLVE some items on my bucket list.
So I think my word has found me! I RESOLVE to stick with RE-SOLVE! I’ve already made some progress, and I’m excited about it. I’m just going to add a hyphen to that sticky note!
Blessings, all!
Karen, your one word has been shifted to a new one that has some very interesting ways to maneuver through 2018, I like that you are being intentional and ready to re-Solve ideas and tasks to find new solutions.
Hello, Margaret, and Happy New Year! Thank you for hosting. Love your word, explore, the idea of an artist date monthly, and these words from your post: “…the fun and marvelous thing about language is that words can have many meanings and purposes. And every word’s meaning is up to interpretation.”
Have a great year with explore as your guide.
enjoyed your post, I bet in your year of exploring you will be going on a junket too. Just a side note here, I did go to painting classes last year… was I good, hummmm NO but I loved it. So in that exploring, try new things out side your comfort zone… the action will be defined by the joy you find… that’s a quoto from something I read… I like it
[…] you to my friend, Margaret Simon, for hosting this week’s link-up, and for gently nudging me to join […]
I love how the word explore found you. So many different places and ways to look for hidden treasures, new frontiers–internal and external–and exciting surprises. Who knows what you will discover this year.