Word for the Year

Jake. This is his normal early morning position

Hand made Art Journal from a class by Journal Girl

The "room" at a height of mess

Petunias in the late spring

My favorite canvas, from the SheArt3 class, Christy Tomlinson

I read a lot of blogs, or at least give them a daily glance. I do this for several reasons, the first being that seeing other's art inspires me. The second reason is the fact that all women are connected through art, with the struggles and challenges associated in the endeavor, and they talk about it. I love that. Kelly Rae Roberts is a hugely successful artist who made the choice to market her creations in reproductions. You have probably seen something by Kelly Rae, even if you didn't know it was hers. I started reading her blog just a few months ago, and was surprised to see how hard she works to maintain a positive attitude, physical fitness, balance with the family (well, that really isn't surprising), etc.

So here is a woman who has achieved enormous success, and she is still searching for balance. Which brings me to the Word for a Year. Kelly posted recently that she had chosen a new word for the year 2014. She got the idea about choosing an annual word to live by, to influence her daily decisions, from another artist, Ali Edwards. You can actually join a class about this at Ali's website here.

I am not going to take that class, but I like the idea of choosing a word for an entire year. As a reminder. As a prod. For a little meditation. So my word is ACHIEVE. For the entire year of 2014, I am going to set some goals and do my level best to achieve them. Not just with what I create, although that is the main motivating factor, but also in relationships and reactions. And I am returning to something I have neglected in the past few years. This was learned in a months long journey into AL-ANON several years ago:

God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change,
Courage to change the things I can,
And wisdom to know the difference.

Have a restful weekend.
Linda