One Little Word: December

This is my second year participating in Ali Edwards’ One Little Word workshop. My 2016 word was “clear.” All of my OLW posts are here.

I finished my 2016 One Little Word album last week with a summary of facts, feelings and things I want to remember. I’m happy that I was able to finish the full year of prompts even after letting things slide from July through October, because it got me back in the OLW mindset and periodic reflection is always helpful. But I’m also looking forward to starting fresh this year with a new word. I never really connected with “clear” the way I thought/hoped I would and in retrospect, I think that’s because the word represents a feeling rather than actionable steps I could take.

I wrote in my album January that I expected 2016 to be a year of transitions, and it was. I started the year with a new baby and new job and expected both of those things to kind of settle out…but they haven’t. Now I’ve got a “velcro” toddler who is posing new challenges, and even after a year in my new job there’s been so much upheaval in my group that “settling in” has been impossible. And I’ve got a new house! I would not have predicted that last January, and the process of moving added both significant stress and significant benefits to my life in the last 6 months.

The end of 2016 definitely brought the roughest moments of the year for me, and I’m not naive enough to think that turning the calendar to 2017 will cause some sort of miracle change or magically erase all challenges. But there’s still something about the new year that gives me a fresh perspective and has me thinking about different possibilities. I’m excited to see what this year has in store…