This will be my second year participating in Ali Edwards’ One Little Word workshop, but as 2016 began, I found myself wordless. Finding my word for 2015 was so easy and obvious, and “enough” was such a great one to work with — so good and satisfying, in fact, that I seriously considered sticking with it for a second year. Reminding myself that everything I have and am doing is enough is a worthy thing to continue.
Still, I felt like repeating the same word wouldn’t keep things fresh. I thought about words like fit, breathe, and rest but none of them seemed quite right. I was starting to get a little frustrated, but continued to lets things percolate in my head. Early last week as I was in the car driving home with the girls and admiring the evening sky, the answer suddenly became clear. That would be my word. Clear.
“Clear” is a companion word to “enough,” I think, so it will allow me to continue the themes I brought in last year. But it’s also different enough to invite me to do some new things. Clear my head. Be clear in my intentions. Clearly communicate with others, both at home and at work. Think clearly. Clear out physical and mental clutter.
Most of all, I want to focus a lot on what the word “clear” FEELS like to me. I incorporated several old photos into my January spread that fit this idea — that show what “clear” feels like to me. It feels like admiring a gorgeous mountain range in Patagonia in the fading evening light like I did in 2006. It feels like like happily walking through downtown Chicago like I did in 2004. It feels like lying in a hammock by the ocean like I did on my honeymoon in 2009.
I’m looking forward to a year of clear!
