Hello 2017!

Normally I would have my year well laid out before it even began.  With the merger at work, the time I would have spent reviewing 2016 and planning for 2017 was diverted to other endeavors and I have entered 2017 feeling somewhat unprepared.

I had my own favorites among all the signs at the
Frisco Mercantile. I'm including some I took that weren't
in Melissa's post.

And yet, not entirely...

My word for 2017 made itself evident to me as early as last October.  I lived with it, thought about it, searched for alternatives, but ultimately came back to the word that was whispering in my ear... SELF.  Not as in SELF-ish, but as in SELF-care, SELF-discovery, SELF-fulfillment.

In trying to crystallize my intentions for 2017, I used SELF as an acronym for the following:

Show up and Be Seen.

Express Gratitude.

Love Yourself. Love Your Life.

Feed Your Soul.

My areas of focus for 2017 include:

Authenticity - be true to myself, be more self-aware, stick up for myself, ask for help when I need it, don't be a doormat, be vulnerable, allow my friends and family to get to know the real me, stop hiding behind always being the responsible one and putting everyone else's needs first.

Gratitude - express gratitude every day. Tell people when you appreciate them. Write thank you letters. Keep a gratitude journal.

Health - Eat better. Move more. Make self-care a priority. Get a massage at least monthly.

Adventure - Try new things, visit new places, really live out loud.

Creativity - take nature walks, participate in online classes, unleash your inner artist and give her lots of time to play, explore, and discover.

Simplicity - continue to declutter all the excess from my life so that I have the time for all the other good things.

While I can readily admit that some of these items have been on my intentions list for years, I have the deep sense that with my focus being on meeting my own needs first, this year will be different for me.  That said, I also felt strongly that I couldn't keep doing the same things I've been doing all along and expect different results.  So I'm really changing it up this year!  I did NOT enroll in FIT 2017.  I love, love, love Cathy Zielski but I needed some new input into the health portion of my journey.  I did NOT enroll in One Little Word.  I admire Ali Edwards and adore the whole word of the year concept, but I felt I had more than enough experience with her prompts (I've been in her class every year since she started it) that I didn't need that this year to keep my word and my intentions front and center in my life.   

On the other hand, I adore my online classes and communities and wasn't about to give that up!  So for 2017, I'm enrolled in:

A Year In The Making - this class with Karen Russell (you may have heard of her from her Photographer's Workshop classes) actually started last September and is closed.  Each month we have four focus goals/intentions - one is for decluttering a specific area of the house, one is health-related, one is personal growth related, and the last one is a focus on a specific photography skill.  

AYITM and all that goes with it probably would have been more than enough to guide me through the year, but there were two other classes that really spoke to my soul, so I signed up...

The Magic of Myth - with Elizabeth Duvivier - is about the hero's journey.  And somehow I feel like this year I am on a journey to become my own hero. This class is also already closed. So I'll learn some things about myths and how they still apply to our lives today and immerse myself in a little bit of woo-woo kinda stuff and hopefully find some solid takeaways for my life.

Wanderlust 2017 - taught by Kasia and Jamie Avery - is a yearlong art journaling class with a host of special guest teachers including notables such as Dyan Reaveley and Lorraine Bell.  And I jumped into this one with all my heart because I seriously MISS my art journaling in the worst way!  I'm hoping that having paid good money for this course will motivate me to actually spend some time getting messy - it's the "feed my soul" part of this year's intentions!  And if this one interests you... it is still open!  And at $99 it is a really fair price for all the content.

Basically what I've done is add three year-long classes on top of a full time job that is expanding and pushing me well beyond my comfort zone, and a part-time job running not just one, but two, antique shop sites.  Add to that my commitment to get back to blogging and I think I've got the perfect recipe for my own kind of crazy beautiful life!