Pat Sloan's Blog: Word of the Year

Happy New Year!!! I can't tell you how ridiculously happy it makes me to start each new year. Why is that? Am I the only one? Maybe it's because I love to have this bright and sparkly clean slate in front of me.. 365 delicious days to explore, create, build onto.

My word last year was FINISH .. so how did I feel about that word? Well I came out of the gates STRONG! I had a mantra.. finish! There were celebrated finishes and it was good. but very very quickly i forgot about my word... I didn't revisit it each day, week or even month.. it feel so out of sight i had to look up what i'd picked!

So for this year i thought about it... Did I even WANT to do a word a year? I have since 2006, it is 2016.. that is TEN YEARS of words...

So YES i do want to do this thing.

Then I thought.. did I want a do-over of Finish? It's a fantastic word to keep front and center. Like a 'Finish - Returns... the Sequel'. In the end I decided that was not what i wanted to do, at least not for 2016.

I have followed Ali Edwards's writings on her One Little Word™ since 2007. So I again signed up for her year long workshop. And i started experimenting with words.

What is definitely happening in 2016?

My business, of course, and life as usual. No big life events on the horizon!
What do I hope will happen in 2016?

I can create a Balance of life and work. I want to have more time to do some of the parts of my business and my life that I've not been able to spend time on. I want to enjoy life by having some space, a way to soak in the richness of it all.
What dreams do I want to nurture?

We can all create magnificently huge big dreams, but i decided to pick some dreams that i can actually accomplish. I want to be success at making the dreams happen! Most of that has to do with creating space in my days for projects that have been long neglected. Like painting my downstairs, doing gardening, trying new dishes to cook. My dreams are of some fairly normal stuff!.
What qualities do I want to develop?

I have some business goals for our small family owned business. And I have personal goals to nurture my relationships, to walk and move more, to be healthier so i live a nice long life.
What does my heart need?

This question nailed the word for me.. My heart needs space to think, space to create, time to enjoy what I have, time to make

This year I've chosen "SPACE" as my word.

I always think my word is kind of odd as I say it out loud each year, but it's hung around me for awhile, and we've become kind of good friends already..... SPACE and I.

Let me tell you what this word means to me, and how I plan to use it.

I want ...

Space as in clearness for my mind to let in other opportunities.
Space in a zen type feeling, of having the space/time to do things i want to incorporate into my life.
physical space to create, breath,
mental space to recharge, to let my business evolve, to make room for new idea
creative space so when ideas occur i can try them, make them happen. From thinking, sketching to actually making
having thinking space everyday, where i’m not rushed

Once again I PLAN to journal and write.... I am going to work with the Quilter's Planner as it's been a LONG time since I've journaled regularly or tracked anything on paper.. usually i'm totally online. But this year I'm changing it up a bit as it might force my to allow that SPACE to enter my life!

You can join me here at my blog, Facebook group, and here are my previous words if you are interested!