January 25, 2013

One Little Word and a Few Projects


Take the first step in Faith. You don't have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step. 
~Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. 

What a great quote from MLK. I saw it on Design Sponge via this etsy store earlier this week. 

I hadn't planned to let so much time go between posts, but that's life, eh? I'm trying to post more than three times a week, but so far that's all I have been able to accomplish. 

I am so blessed right now: I am married to a wonderful man. I live in a beautiful city in Europe, and I have time - lots of time. For the first time since age 16, I am not working. This bothered me at first, but I'm getting used to it, and I know that this won't always be the case. Whether I like it or not, this is where I am in life. So, I am taking this time to do the things that I want to do - learning French, learning Dutch, cooking more, developing healthy habits, and creative habits. In the new year I resolved to take on a few projects and one little word

Another long post... continues...
I was inspired by this blog to choose a word for the year. This is such an interesting way to be mindful of the changes I want to make in my life. 

But, I am afraid. 

I know this. 

I am afraid to fail. I am afraid to start. I am afraid to finish. I am afraid of what people will think. I am afraid that people will not care about what I do. I am afraid people will not care about who I am. 

But, I am trying to change that. I don't want to be afraid or bothered by fear anymore.
  For 2013, my One Little Word is:
fearless

I am following Ali Edwards' online course One Little Word 2013. Ali Edwards is a modern day memory keeper. While I am not into scrapbooking, I do like the idea of documentation. In fact, that's a lot of what I do everyday. I just don't have a central place to keep all of my projects, pictures, writings, etc. Anyway, I am trying something different. I am being fearless! 

January's prompt instructed us to think about our word, and come up with 12 intentions that incorporate our word.  For example: fearless mind, fearless adventures, fearless experiences, etc. We were instructed to choose 12 intentions for 12 months and then create a similar project. 
Brainstorming my One Little Word - fearless.
Once I narrowed my words down, I got down to business:
I made 12 cards for 12 months, plus a few extra which you can see on the top photo. I don't have a good photo of all 12 cards together. (I'll work on getting that up this weekend.) 

It was fun to collect the supplies I needed for this project. A friend of mine and I made a day of it last week. I found ink, pretty paper, and fun stamps - though they are more expensive here than in the US, it's nice to know that what I need is available. Also, it's nice to have mom send a care package with a few of my personal supplies. 
Thanks for the Sharpies mom!
Here is my card for January: fearless intentions. 
This month I resolved to start a few projects. One project is 365 photos. I've been having fun with that. I hope to keep that up along with blogging. I'll get into a regular habit of it. I'm just not forcing it right now. I also hope to start posting Make 52. In these posts I'll share what I made that week. I hope to publish my first Make post tomorrow. 

Finally, my last project. Three weeks ago I started Julia Cameron's Artist Way. It's a 12 week course with creative exercises, readings and tools to help creative types and artists with their self-confidence and removing creative blocks. I've been wanting to commit to doing the Artist Way for at least ten years. At least, that's how long I've had the book. I have the time now, but not the book. Thank goodness for my iPad and the Kindle App. I love it.  I read one chapter a week and let it sink in. 
Every morning, without fail, I write my morning pages - 3 pages of handwritten journaling. Sometimes it's a brain dump. Sometimes it's a to do list. Sometimes it's the tasks outlined in the Artist Way chapters. It's cathartic and revealing, and I look forward to writing everyday.
Anyway, that's a little of what I've been up to this month. And I am hooked! I hope I can keep up with it. I'm very proud of the work I've done thus far. It's so nice to have time, though it seems like I am pretty busy! I am so thankful for this experience.

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