Hello December

The average woman today, I believe, 

would do well to appraise her interests,

evaluate the activities in which she is 

engaged, and then take steps to 

simplify her life, putting things of 

first importance first, placing emphasis 

where the rewards will be greatest

and most enduring, and ridding herself

of the less rewarding activities.

~ Belle S. Spafford (via Becky Higgins)

Hello December. How quickly you arrived. So this last month of the year has me thinking about the upcoming New Year (not that I’m not focused on the present moment too) & how a lot of my goals & intentions have changed 180 degrees from this point about a year ago. Normally, I am all about making resolutions/goals & I’d already have them listed by now, but I’m thinking that I might change things up this year. I’ve been tossing around the idea of a manifesto of sorts & perhaps doing monthly goals, which would tie in to the intentions I set forth in the manifesto.  I also have yet to choose my one word for the year too & order my new egg.

My focus for the last month of this year is to CREATE & SIMPLIFY. I have my December Daily Album & Journal Your Christmas class (combining the two), 2 other online classes – Reclaiming My Time & RoadMap (the first is more creative-based & the latter is more practical but both are about time management and productivity). And of course, my altered journal round robin started, along with the usual suspects like 52 Weeks of Mail, blogging & perhaps most importantly, enjoying the Holiday Season. As for simplifying - this means getting rid of unnecessary stuff - both mentally & physically.

I will be sharing the progress of my December Daily album weekly & the first post will be this Wednesday. Tell me my friends, what are your goals for this last month of the year?

Reflect & Manifest: Reverb10

                                                       

Reverb 10 begins today. Prompt: One Word. Encapsulate the year 2010 in one word. Explain why you're choosing that word. Now, imagine it's one year from today, what would you like the word to be that captures 2011 for you?

2010 was an interesting year for me. I was unemployed for 8 months. By choice. And used the time for self-reflection and to come back to myself.  I called it the year of beginnings because it felt like a new chapter in my life. I wanted to focus on creativity and finding a new career. During this time, I started a blog and began working on my long-time goal of opening an Etsy shop.  I also spent a lot of time just being. Which, in my head, is code for doing nothing but watching a lot of movies and stalking reading blogs. It was fantastic.

Then, I started working and have been struggling with trying to find a balance between work, home and creativity. I also will most likely be out of a job again in January (you can read the details here). So, in a way, it feels as if my year has come full circle and I will be in the same position again. No matter what situation I should find myself in in the new year, I want to continue my forward momentum.  With my Etsy shop (continuing & expanding once it is opened), maintaining a healthy lifestyle, reading more and less  Netflix and Hulu. Also, I want to focus on my career goals. To figure out a new direction in which I'm actually passionate about and not just good at.

So tell me, what one word would you use to summarize this year? And have you thought of one for 2011? I would definitely love to hear. And if you want to join Reverb10, you can sign up here to receive the daily prompts via email.