Word for 2018...

It didn't come easily this year.

For starters, I looked back to 2017 and realized I really had not focused much of my life around my word for the year or my CDFs... HERE is the explanation for all that.

Time to refocus and get an idea of what might work for me in 2018.

So I started making lists of possible words: change, observe, finish, regroup, see any pattern here?

My husband suggested ENGAGE complete with GIF of Picard from ST:TNG but cute as that was, it isn't the engagement (or starting) part that stops me... it is the continuing part.

Then it came to me... just like you have to complete a swing in baseball or golf, or keep the pool cue going in pool... you need follow-through. I don't completely understand why in sports but I see it is a major part of what I lack in projects getting done.

FOLLOW-THROUGH.

I never have a problem getting excited about the start of a project but often once that initial energy wans, I am left with yet another unfinished project. Part of my intentions for this year is to get things done, finish projects...

So a few days late this year, but I have found my word: FOLLOW-THROUGH.

And, in keeping with what I have been doing for the last few years, I came up with some Core Desired Feelings (CDFs). These are also explained on the link above from last year.

My CDFs are once again repeats with a couple of changes:
In 2018 I will be:
UNCLUTTERED
MINDFUL (INTENTIONAL)
HELPFUL
PLAYFUL
ACTIVE

End of 2016 and the word of the year for 2017...

For many 2016 was not a good year because of events that happened externally. With all the negative posts online (by others) about this tumultuous year, I decided to see what had been good about it for me and attempt to find a smooth way to transition into the New Year.

What I did that I am happy about in 2016:

• We made a little progress in the house: living room bookshelves, second fridge, new bed. I also purged some of the clothes I don't wear (although I think I still have a lot of clothes, probably need to do it again next year). I did more with the bookshelves, purging a lot of my old books that do not serve me anymore and donating them to the library for the Friends of the Library sales. 
• I was fairly steady in my yoga practice this year, getting more consistent as the year wore on.
• Rearranged my sewing room to make it more efficient for me for when I eventually sew more (see below LOL).
• Stayed in relative good health for the year. I seem to have weathered a health situation that may get worse in the future but for now, I am healthy. 
• I was more aware of staying positive and being grateful for situations and things. For example, when our old washing machine died as I started a load, I was grateful that I had the means to just go out and get a new one. And I think what helps me is when I share my gratitude about things, either out loud or online (here or FB mostly).

What could still use improvement from 2016: (just noticing, not getting down on myself cause we all know how that doesn't work!)

• Well I do still have a mountain of fabric that I could have been sewing on. Luckily fabric doesn't spoil and I can carry that over to 2017.
• There is still a ton more work to do in the house to make it comfy and so that I can feel like it is a home to be able to invite friends over to. I think my immediate goals now that the bedroom stuff is redone has to be the living room. We both still have a lot of stuff to go through. 
• I got lazy about my better eating habits towards the end part of 2016 and ate more breads and sugar sweets than I might have liked. That too is easily fixed in the new year.
• My walking plan sort of petered out. Time to get that started up again for 2017. Where IS that Fitbit I wonder?
• Not as many blog posts happened last year as I had intended. I want to use this blog in the coming year to log some of my own personal growth and achievements. I saw a blog post once with the title something like "What if you write a blog and no one reads it?" Well, for me, that is just fine. I am writing for myself and if someone else happens to read it along the way, all the better. 
• I sort of forgot my word for the year for 2016 (BE) and my CDF's (core desired feelings). Around November I remembered them again and decided I would find a way in the new year to integrate them more into my life on a consistent basis.

So this brings me to what my word for 2017 will be. Last post I wrote of some suggestions and why I might choose them. I decided as much as I did want to look outward for many things this coming year (volunteering or making things for donations), I still needed to be a bit introspective as well... so the word I chose is:

                               COMPASSION

Compassion is a great word for what I have been feeling. I can look outward and help others/be compassionate towards others, and yet I can still show compassion for myself and make the things I am working on for myself happen without being mean or negative towards myself.

Intentions, not resolutions. I stopped making New Year's Resolutions years ago. Instead I went towards what my Intentions for the new year would be. Then I stumbled upon the Core Desired Feelings and that resonated with me even more.

Core Desired Feelings. According to Danielle LaPorte, the core desired feelings (CDFs) are how you want to feel in these 5 categories:  Livelihood & Lifestyle, Creativity & Learning, Body & Wellness, Relationships & Society, and Essence & Spirituality.

As for my CDF's, I kept a few from last year and changed some. Mine for 2017 are:

• uncluttered
• open
• mindful (intentional)
• helpful
• connected

Today I will be working my way into the new year with a 2 hour yin yoga session at Shala Yoga. I still attend It's All Yoga and consider it to be my "home" studio, but I am finding some other teachers in other studios as well who lead classes in the slow, more introspective styles of yoga that I enjoy. For a while I fought going to any other studio, wondering if it was disloyal or whatever, then after some thought realized that it was just fine. Finding classes that work for me in my yogic pursuits are a good thing. And once I opened to that thinking, I think I was more accepting to finding my own yoga path and helping myself grow in whatever ways served me.

Word for the Year... 2016

I had been thinking a lot about my Word for the Year lately... and even chosen one I thought might be good for it (play) and then in yoga class the last day of 2015 another word came to me that has taken a stronger hold in me.... BE.








The more I thought about it the stronger the word became. So many things have been pulling on me lately (who am I now that I am retired, what do I want to do with my life now, how can I make new habits that would make my life more of what I want it to be, etc)... and though all of it a simple breath and the one word just comes though... just BE. The rest will take care of itself.

So along with this came thoughts of what this new year's CDF's (core desired feelings a la Danielle LaPorte) would be. Last year my words were unencumbered, aligned, vibrant, connected, and mindful. I decided to rework a couple of last  year's words and add a couple of new ones. So for this year my core desired feelings are:

UNCLUTTERED: Still working on the unencumbered, decluttering thing and hoping to muster more energy towards it this coming year.
MINDFUL: I liked this one from last year and want to continue feeling it.
PLAYFUL: Incorporating the idea of play, I want this year to be full of movement (yoga, dance) and just more fun play!
COLORFUL: Feeling the pull to get back to art and sewing, wanting to incorporate more color into my life.
GRATEFUL: An extension of working on this in December (thanks mostly to the Facebook Gratitude group) I do feel grateful for so many things in my life. It seems like a good thing to continue recognizing what they are.

So with that I wish anyone who happens to stop by a joyous and wonderful 2016! Thank you for being a part of this chapter in my life.

Reviewing...

The other day Tami was giving a workshop in our yoga teacher training session and through what she said reminded me of my Word of the year and the CDF's (core desired feelings based on the Danielle LaPorte book, The Desire Map). I realized it had been MONTHS since I had thought of those and decided to review them and see just where I stood with them...

My Word for the year in 2015 was OPEN. HERE is where I wrote about that.
My CDF's for 2015 were unencumbered, aligned, vibrant, connected, and mindful. HERE is where I list them but I see now I never really wrote more about them.

Now it is the week of Thanksgiving and many people are doing Gratitude challenges and such on Facebook and other social media. Or maybe preparing what they will say on Thanksgiving, the one day it seems we all have approval to feel gratitude. This has always been a hard thing for me. Not being grateful but expressing it. Lately there are a lot more articles online about how developing a gratitude practice is helpful in our lives and after so many years of cynicism I decided to tone my negative voice down and actually give it a try. So I joined the 40 day Gratitude challenge on Facebook and decided to take a look at thoughts and ideas I had set forth for my life and how this year played out.

Ok ok I am so grateful it is satsuma season (photo above)!! But seriously...

Starting with the Word for the year. OPEN. I think I have been more open to things happening this year. Where I think I have fallen down is being more open to accepting people as they are. Still needs work.

For the CDFs, I think I have had only bits and pieces of advancements with them:
Unencumbered: may need to use this one again next year. My house is still messy and I still have way too much stuff.
Aligned: I did better with this one and have a very positive feeling about bringing more yoga into my life. I am feeling more aligned physically but also mentally/spiritually. I have never been a religious person but I still feel there is some spiritual awareness that runs through my core. The yoga teacher training also helped me reawaken some of this curiosity.
Vibrant: I had hoped to do more art this year. Perhaps that is something again for next year. I have been feeling the loss of artistic mojo extremely powerfully these last few months.
Connected: Both good and bad on this one. I have been in touch with some people and relatives I had not been for a while, and some of that has brought sadness as well. Two of my cousins (one on my dad's side and one on my mom's) both passed away within a couple of weeks of each other last month. It makes me sad that I did not make more of an effort to stay connected. But also I have noticed the last few months I have been more introverted and have not gotten together much with people or made efforts to be more connected.
Mindful:  This one sort of laid dormant for a while then lately I am being much more mindful in several ways. Part of this is from an expanded awareness of mindfulness through the yoga training program and some of it is taking hold of my food issues and being more mindful of what and how much I am eating again.

So now I am thinking forward to next year and wondering if maybe I just need to give my words and ideas another year to percolate or is it time to choose a new word and cdfs? No hurry, no worries... just a thought that is taking hold this morning. This morning where I was grateful to wake up in a nice warm bed in a paid-for house.

What are you grateful for? Do you keep a gratitude journal? I am curious what other people are doing to align things/actions/thoughts in their lives... feel free to leave a reply.