One Little Word - 2018

Every year for about the last ten, I've been participating in some fashion in the One Little Word adventure created by Ali Edwards. Although every word I've chosen has not been a great success, I have learned so much about myself in the process of choosing and working with a single word each year. The words I've chosen, in no particular order, were joy, organize, focus, write, solace, me, time, and create. For some of those, I did almost nothing besides choose a word; with some, I worked regularly on prompts in Ali's class, which I found more rewarding than simply choosing a word I didn't think much about for the rest of the year.

2017's One Little Word

Last year's word was create, and I had a fair amount of success with it, though I admit it was less action-inspiring than I originally thought when I chose it in early 2017. My main intention for this word was to be more creative in my daily life--to create more generally, but also to take a more active role in my life, rather than being a sort of passive observer.

I was successful in that endeavor in several ways, and I created a lot of scrapbook pages, finally finishing the Florida vacation album from 2014, completing the October vacation album from that same year, and wrapping up the 2014's yearbook as well. I also made great progress on 2015, which I hope to finish in early this year.

Choosing 2018's Word

As last year began its descent towards December, I started thinking about what I wanted in my life for 2018, and one word kept swimming to the top of my mind.

This year, I will turn 50.

I still have to let that sink in!

I've always wanted to "grow old gracefully," but I admit, the prospect of this particular milestone has caused me some emotional turbulence. And the truth is, grace is simply not the energy I need to successfully proceed through this particular transition.

I need to be strong, resilient, passionate, energized, and brave.

I need to be, in One Little Word, FIERCE.

And so, that is the word I have chosen to guide me through 2018, a word that encompasses all of those other words and more, as I cross the finish line of my forites, and begin the journey into my fifties.

So Far, So Good

I wasn't going to take Ali's class this year, but I changed my mind. I know that I could work with previous class content myself, create my own project, but I also know that I will be more likely to do the work on a monthly basis if I pay for the class. I also bought some supplies from Ali's shop, including the pink album and the main kit. I hope to share my progress with the album as I go.

And I've watched the class videos and begun work on the prompts. Keeping a One Little Word journal has worked well for me in the past, so I'm continuing that practice. I set up a Pinterest board for my word, as I've done in previous years, and I've discovered some amazing quotes already. 

Working with this word so far, it's been quite abundantly obvious that I made the right choice for me, for this year. (I also have an idea of how to augment my One Little Word class work by selecting some fierce women to feature in my album somehow, but more on that as I develop the idea.)

I'm super excited to see where FIERCE takes me this year and how my life is influenced by the choice to develop my own fierceness in the months to come.

What about you? What's your word for 2018?