Conversations with the Maiden, Mother, and Crone: How One Little Word Can Make a Huge Impact

November is one of my favorite months of the year. Although Thanksgiving and my birthday are major reasons why I love this month, there are other things to consider. And no, before you ask, it’s definitely not because of Black Friday. I’m not that kind of gal. During this time of year we really get the chance to live in the past, present and future, figuratively speaking. The year is starting to come to an end, and let's face it, as soon as Thanksgiving is over, the tree comes up and December blows past us like a whirlwind of celebrations. October 31st - January 1st is one big celebration for me. I really try to live in the moment, be mindful, capture every story and embrace the cooling temperatures. It’s the time to snuggle up and enjoy the longer evenings and make the home cozy.

In addition to enjoying the moment, I tend to reflect on the year that has gone by, see the progress that has been made, pat myself on the back for a job well done, and assess areas in my life that could benefit from an up-leveling. During that time of reflection, it is nearly impossible to keep myself from thinking ahead to the upcoming year. I will start to imagine what it will be like, or better yet, what I want it to be like. I start making plans for the upcoming year and visualizing the changes, it's just natural for me. I get all geared up for the transformations, so that starting on January 1st, I’m ready to rock the new year right out of the gate.

There have been many approaches to setting goals and resolutions, but I do something a little different - actually a lot of things differently. You might be asking where I am going with this and why I am talking about it now, in the fall, but just bear with me. Generally people set a goal or resolutions for the new year and it is long forgotten by February. We typically get burnt out or side tracked. I would always lose my focus around February when the Valentine’s Day candy comes out. So the real challenge is finding creative ways to incorporate your goal into your everyday life so that you don’t lose focus.

One of my favorite methods is choosing my word of the year. I started doing that around 2010 when a crafty coworker of mine introduced me to Christine Kane’s Power Word, or Word-of-the-Year. Christine’s technique allows me to select a word that I feel would benefit me throughout the year, and focus on my goals, without making me feel like I am not achieving my goals. I can find ways to incorporate my word into every aspect of my day to day life.

Over the years I have picked words and used my creative abilities to flesh out what my word means to me. The first year I selected “Productive” as my word because I was seeking ways to break old habits and transform my approach to life. My mom and I thought it would be a great way to work in our mixed media art journals by creating a page every day. You can read more about that in Cindy’s article later this week.

As time has passed, my method for incorporating my word into my craft has changed and I have discovered that I really enjoy following Ali Edwards’s One Little Word. She has an awesome class that lasts all year long where she posts exclusive content each month for those who sign up. There are some great products that she designs each year that go along with the project. Each month I eagerly look forward to what the prompt is, and generally work on it throughout the month. She really focuses on journaling with a bit of design inspiration. It’s one of those things that you can transform into your own style and be as elaborate or simple as you like. The take-away is incorporating the word into your life, documenting your experiences, and reflecting on it. It truly is a great add on to your goal setting.

For me, this is the keystone to my goal setting for the year. I start with the following steps:

Visualize what I want my year to look and feel like.
Narrow down the feeling into a single word that can be used all year long.
Set the intentions, create goals, or resolutions.
Make your word visible.

The first step in selecting your word is to sit down and really think about what matters to you and what you want to get out of the upcoming year. For example, if you have been overwhelmed or stressed out this year, picking the word peace is a great focus word. It is a flexible word with many meanings and great imagery that you can work into your everyday life, whether it is with your family and friends, work, personal space, or even on a grander scale like world peace etc.

I suggest sitting down and just writing out words that resonate with you, or if you feel like you need a pushing off point, there are some great places on the web where you can generate a word. One of my biggest pieces of advice beyond that is to make sure that your word is flexible, verbs and adjectives work best. Nouns can be tricky if they are not multi-faceted. For example, snow would not be a very good choice in my opinion because it is not something that you have much control over, and it doesn't occur all year long for the majority of us. Have fun with your word, try it out for a day and let it roll around in your mind. If you can’t decide between two or more words, that’s ok, just sleep on it and over time you will start to lean into one of them more so than the others. If you get a head start before the new year, then you will have plenty of time to decide.

If you are having a hard time getting started I highly recommend checking out Christine Kane’s downloadable free worksheet. Ali Edwards’s website has a list of words that I like sifting through. You can find it here or you can just do a simple Google search for word of the year list or One Little Word (also known on the web as OLW).

I would love to hear from you on what words you have chosen in the past and any creative ways that you have incorporated your word into your daily life. I especially enjoy getting insight from the non-arts and crafts community who take part in the Word of the Year or similar trends. We will be sure to announce the words that we have selected for ourselves before the new year so make note to check back in. If you are curious as to how I incorporated my word of the year into my mixed media arts, or my Ali Edwards’s inspired project check out the images below.

2020 - HARMONY