My One Little Word® for 2019 is BREATHE.
I am joining Ali Edwards and her One Little Word® class for the sixth time this year and like always at the beginning of the new year, I am super excited to learn more about the word I picked. Like I mentioned here in this Instagram post, my year with WILD in 2018 wasn't the best. I didn't really connect with that word. I learned that I tried to force something that I don't really want or need in my life.
My new word came to me back in September. It wasn't that I was actively searching for it but I started to brainstorm a few ideas. I asked myself: What do I need most? The answers were: Yoga. Calmness. No stress. Peace. No pressure (I don't have to do it all!). Taking a break. Moments to pause. Meditation. Take a deep breath. A space for positive things. Mindfulness.
All of this (and even more) is "breathe" for me.
Making my word visible and documenting my journey
(01) To make my word visible in our house I bought a salvaged word from Colleen Attara. If you never received a package from her you are definitely missing out on something. She puts so much love in her packages and it's pure joy to open it.
(02) Another way of making my word visible is to keep a pocket talisman from soulmantras close by. In addition to the heart talisman I also got a five deep breaths key chain. Liz wrote about the "five deep breaths" practice here on her blog and her words really spoke to me. In addition to these two things I also have a Snowflake Obsidian Stone. I reveived this one from her, when I ordered my pocket talisman in 2017. I don't know if I believe in the power of stones or not. But I really like the idea behind having a mantra and an object that represents that mantra.
(03) In the past I always used a minibook (held together with book rings) to document my journey and the answers to the prompts from the class. This year I'll try something new. I have a few of these great notebooks at home which I got from past kits from The Crafter's Box (July Kit and August Kit). The notebook is a mix of watercolor and mixed media paper. I want to remove pressure to create the perfect album and hope that this notebook will do the trick. I want to have a place where I can add all sorts of things related to my word. Magazine clippings, inspiring quotes, answers to the prompts and maybe some sketches. Nothing perfect, just documenting how this word becomes part of my life.
(04) Because I decided to work with a notebook, all embellishments and stuff I add to it have to be very flat. I picked everything from my stash (all items are from Ali Edwards and her past One Little Word® kits) and put them in one of these great pouches from Studio Calico (their kits (used to?) come in these). I don't know yet, what I will use, but to keep everything in one place definitely makes it easier.
READ MORE ABOUT MY JOURNEY WITH MY ONE LITTLE WORD® HERE
one little word® 2018: WILD
one little word® 2017: BALANCE
one little word® 2016: LIGHT
one little word® 2015: QUALITY
one little word® 2014: OPEN