This week between Christmas and New Years has become a time for me to reflect on my experiences during the past year:
what did I do, learn, seek, accomplish, long for, create, become, screw up, change, find, allow, push away, forget, remember, discover, be amazed by, walk away from, begin, fight with/for, spend approximately
525,948.766 minutes
DOING?!
And then I ponder if that is what I want to continue doing in the upcoming New Year, or are there changes, improvements, intentions I would like to incorporate and strive towards, things I want to banish, let go of, say goodbye to, and a certain type of "me" that I want to become more or less of.
Review.
Delve.
Unearth.
Listen.
Look.
Learn.
Reflect.
Ponder.
Accept.
Realize.
This is my "work" over the next few days.
And then, with a little help from other wonderful, wise, generous Goddesses
I have been led to (though the magic of the intertubes!), I will attempt to organize all I discover using the aforementioned process to help me create the New Year (and latest version of ME!) which I will be thrilled and honored to live.
The "work" officially began a few days ago, when I began the year long online art journaling adventure BOOK OF DAYS under the loving, supportive, super creative guidence of Effy Wild.
I started keeping a "diary" around age 8, and had tomes of secret-drama-joy-drivel filled journals over the ensuing years of growing up. However, during my years as an "adult", aside from the sporadic feelings of need to write something-poems, lists, rants, various musings, memories, dreams, questionaires, love letters, hate letters, anything, nothing special,
(*GASP* and this BLOG!)...I have mostly given up on journaling, and the main writing I do now is of grocery or to-do lists!
But that is all about to change, along with finally indulging my desire to learn/practice not only journaling, but ART journaling. Perhaps not so much expressing myself through many words, but more emotions turned out in artful creations. This fits in nicely with my intention to create more, be less fearless, actually do something with all of those many as-yet-unused art supplies that sit all pretty and pristine (and intimidating!) on the crowded shelves of my "studio"!
After a few hours of working on transforming a cost me 49 cents from Goodwill Outlet hardback copy of "The New Yorker Book of Poems",
into my very own Book of Days, here is what I have created so far:
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| the cover, with my chosen word for the year: OPEN |
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close-up of front cover dictionary page of word OPEN   (yeah, i kinda like it a lot, yay!) 
So that is what I have been working on lately...I hope to complete the creation of the back cover pages next (tomorrow?), and then the group work on the BOD will officially begin on Jan. 1!
I like this time of year. It seems more like a time of fresh new beginnings & possibilities rather than just the end of something (the old/past year). I look forward to celebrating the many good things about 2011, and anticipating even more good things to come in 2012!
How do you feel this time of year?
Do you chose a word to be your guide or intention for the upcoming year?
What is your most joyful memory of 2011?
Until next time...I remain:
Happy Me-Laurie Z!
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Thanks for sharing your BOD book and word. I am doing the BOD with Effy as well, and my word is SEEK. You can read about it on my blog http://lifeofdeb.wordpress.com
ReplyDeleteI am really looking forward to this group doing the Book of Days. It seems so supportive and fun already, and we haven't even started yet.
This is the first year that I am picking a word of the year, and I am actually quite excited. I too am part of the book of days & have chosen "Release" as my word.
ReplyDeletehey laurie! so happy i stopped by and read your post on reflection.. great stuff! see you in BoD & hope to have at the very least, a WIP to share on fb. (shared a bit about my word, POTENTIAL, in the flickr group) - vicki xo
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