There is something about the possibilities that a new year can bring and it's ability to awaken your soul.
I always have the urge to make something but if I am being honest it is not always yarn related. My crafting pulls can vary daily and sometimes, the pull is to a DIY, to play around with stickers in my planner, and even building in a video game.Â
Regardless the outlet, there is a constant creative aspect of my life that I do have to experience daily or I am left feeling unaccomplished for the day. If I am really being honest with you, if it is not being exercised, leaves me feeling a little depressed. I almost feel like I failed in using the blessings and gifts of the life I am given by God.Â
So why are we talking about all of this? I think it is important that we realize these things about ourselves and we allow them to have the space they need in our lives. They are an essential part of our life, and we need to recognize them so we can experience joy daily. God wants us to experience Joy and to have an abundant life, our Heavenly Father is the literally the Father of Creativity. He created the world and all within it and He made YOU in His Image! You are a creator, like your Heavenly Father, He intended you to create.Â
Yes, I am one of those girls, and I understand if you are not someone with a Christian background or faith. It is ok, the word of the year will still work for you and encourage you. You still are welcomed here and have a place in my world, I will not look at you in any way… I will show you respect, love and offer friendship. Know always if you reciprocate mutual respect, you are always welcomed here.Â
Resolutions
We are now into 2023 and if you are like you may be hesitant as to what the year may hold considering the past few years but at the same time ready to really get into all the adventures to come. Trust me, I get it… Ever since 2020 we have experienced highs and lows in every aspects of our lives and I am sure those experiences are still coming for us. However, there are some things we can do to soften the blow and that is what I want to talk about today.Â
Many people start off the new year setting up their resolutions to do this, be that, accomplish this… but did you know that 80% of New Year resolutions fail. Why set yourself up to fail? Why not instead harness that desire to start something new but do so in away that will allow you to succeed?Â
I am not much of a resolution setter, in fact I never have really done it and the times I did, guess what I failed! #shocker
See I know I am someone who has a obsessive behavior trait. it is hard for me to stay on task for long periods of time. It is not a lack of motivation but a obsession to dive “all in” to one things and then to be blindsided that it can not be completed in my minds time frame and it pushes me to dive into something else. So the thought of setting a resolution that I HAVE TO STICK TO for a whole year just sets me up for disaster! Why put myself through that? Why put yourself through that? There are other ways!!Â
Key Word
I am however, a New Year “KEY WORD” person! I think that has to account for something, lol. Setting yourself up with a keyword to Focus on is not a resolution and more importantly it is not a GOAL YOU CAN FAIL. It is just something you decide on and focus on. You allow it to marinate in your mind and every aspect of your life that year. You seek it out in daily activities and before long it will seek you out! You will begin seeing it everywhere and you will begin experiencing it in every thing you do. It can be a part of your craft life, family life, mom life, and even religious life. It begins to build on itself each year, inspiring the next and opening your eyes to this wonderful thing called life.
It is also not a new concept but it may be something you have never tried and I encourage you to do so. I have done it for a while now but the concept is more of a German tradition set in 1971 by Wort des Jahres. If you click on his name it will take you to the Wiki page about the concepts history and show some of the words history has implemented as the WOY – or word of the year in the last few years. I remember learning about the Word of the Year many years ago during a Bible study I was doing, although I can not remember the exact study.Â
My WOY - Word of the Year
So for me, that is what I do every January, decide on a focus word to get me through the year. In the past I have chosen the words: simplicity, loyalty, balance, mindful, Grace, Love, creativity, abundance, strength, and even grounded. (beyond that I honestly can not remember and do not want to dig out journals)Â You may have seen my use the word a lot across my various channels as I wrote post etc because I do try to focus on the word everyday. Last year my word was Joy, and even in the beginning of this post I can be seen talking about it.Â
Through the year I allowed my eyes to be open to the things that brought me joy and the things that did not. Which is what brought me back to my YouTube channel back in May/April of last year. It is also why it devastated me when I had a spammer come on it and in his/her 3 secs of being on a live was able to rip the 14 years of content I had made taken away BUT I did not allow it to take my JOY! In fact I appealed the decision by YouTube but then moved on and started a whole new channel. That was hard but in the end guess what, it brought me Joy.Â
So what about this year, 2023, y’all does it not sound strange saying that. I remember back in my high school days when the world was trying to prepare for Y2K! There was an actual fear that computer systems would shut down, a mass hysteria would break out and the world as we know it would be over. It was such a huge thing and gotten worse towards the end of 1999 and here we are 24 years later! Geez those thoughts can make a girl feel old! Guess what though, the computers of the world are still going and the world has continued on through God’s grace. As I reflected on that memory and experience the other day and prayed for God to open my eyes to my word for 2023, it led me to the word He had meant for me.Â
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This year is going to be one of an adventure to me and it is already living up to its name. My crafting life is leading the way of this adventure, opening doors to a brighter future where I can find the Joy, I looked for last year, the simplicity I longed for a few years ago and providing me with the abundant life I strived to find years before those. It is crazy sitting here writing this and seeing how each of my previous words and yearly focuses lead me to here, to this moment.
Things in store for 2023 are going to be an adventure within themselves.
- This new blog has already provided me with an outlet to express emotions and thoughts that I am experiencing and that I pray bring you some things to ponder.Â
- My YouTube channel has already exceeded my expectations in allowing me to met other creative souls and gives me the ability to share and to be inspired by others as well as hopefully inspire others in return.Â
- The building and creation of my Yarn Barn will be an adventure in expanding DIY skills and as I vlog that journey I hope encourages you to get a little DIY craftiness going in your own life and encourage you to grab some power tools and build something of your own. If I can do it, so can you!
- In my yarn loving life the focus on working only from my stash and only from the queue, patterns I already own will lead me to the patterns that inspired me in the past. This is a way for me to pay homage to all the things that made me want to learn to knit and crochet and not allow me to get caught up into to the trends that come and go. Â
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My word for the year is BALANCE. I was a workaholic until I had a major mental breakdown that landed me on disability. I did well going to college and keeping balance in my life until the last 2 terms and I failed to take care of myself physically and emotionally. I wanted to go back to work full-time and get off of disability but it was suggested I only work part-time and keep my disability benefits. After reading your blog, I know that the suggestion is what I need to do so that I can maintain emotional balance. I need to balance my diet and exercise to get into better health. Thank you for your inspiration.
Balance is a good one and it is a hard one in todays world. Thank you for sharing, I think this is probably the biggest one many battle with all the distractions around us. You are in my thoughts and prayers sweet Wilma!