One Little Word

Be miserable. Or motivate yourself. Whatever has to be done, it's always your choice.

--Wayne Dyer (b. 1940)

For several years now I have been reading about people choosing a word to be their "Word of the Year."  One word to use as a sort of mantra or touchstone or guiding light. This year I decided to play along.

2010 was a great year for me, one of the happiest in recent memory, and as the year was coming to an end I started worrying about what I would do if I somehow lost ahold of all that goodness. I wanted to do something to somehow build on this happiness and maybe even turn it into something greater.

When I remembered about Ali Edwards's One Little Word project, I felt doing something similar would help me harness some of the positive energy I found in 2010. (I realize this is sounding incredibly hokey. There's nothing I can do about that. It's just the way it is.) Anyway, those of you who know about my addiction to Big Picture Classes workshops will also understand how provident it is for me that Ali decided to make her One Little Word project into a year-long workshop at BPC. Hooray! (The workshop is a serious bargain and open all year long. You can do it, too.)

For my one word, I picked the word motivate. Yes, motivate, not motivation.  I wanted a word that not only would encourage me to get off my lazy butt and get things done but also would help me channel my enthusiasm for life into something that would encourage other people to enjoy their lives more, too. I know that last part sounds really vague, but I'm trying to go with it. I need some time to figure out exactly what that is going to mean. This is a year-long project after all.

MOTIVATE has already meant more to me this past month than I could have predicted. You know how when you buy a new car, you suddenly see the same make and model all over the place? I feel this way with MOTIVATE. This word has already cropped up in several unexpected ways this past month, but that's another post for another day. I'm trying to keep myself in introductory mode here.

So. As part of Ali's workshop, I am creating a notebook to keep track of all things MOTIVATE for 2011. Here is the title page. It's only 5x7. (You can click on any of the photos to see them in greater detail.)

This is the cover of my notebook. It's a lovely cream canvas number from Pink Paislee. It's roughly the size of your average 3-ring binder. It's meant to hold 8.5 x 11 pages or any other sized page protector that fits into the rings (such as the 5x7 title page above).

Here's a close-up of the title block.

For part of our January "assignment" in the workshop, we were encouraged to include a current picture of ourselves in our notebooks. So here is my first ever project using a photo overlay in Photoshop.  (Some people might even call this a digital scrapbook layout.) I used the most recent, decent picture of myself I could find, which was from Christmas Eve 2010. Doesn't she look happy? (Overlay design by Ali Edwards.)

Our last assignment for January involved this sort of multi-sectioned meditation on our words. I love this divided page protector, which I never would have attempted to use were it not for the workshop. (Ali designed the cards with the journaling titles on them such as quotation, because, thesaurus, etc.)

Putting this page together was a wonderful exercise because it made me confront my word and its many facets head on, early on. I also really enjoyed the chance to make ultra-mini layouts. Those cards are only about 2.5 x 3.5 inches, so each card became a little design challenge for me. I enjoyed packing in my favorite color combination (red/aqua/kraft/black) along with some scraps of favorite papers and embellishments that make me happy.

Art + words + inspiration = seriously MOTIVATED.  :)

Wow. Okay. If you've read this far, you are probably either my mom (hi, Mom!) or are having a very dull lunch break (hi, Covesie!). No matter who you are, thank you for hanging in there with me. I will save this month's further revelations about my word until my next post on the topic.

Lastly, my dear readers, if you came here as part of the OLW Blog Hop, your next stop is:

Sharyn at An Altered Life.

If you are lost along the blog hop path, or if you just want to check out what One Little Word is doing for a few dozen other people, here's the whole list. Enjoy!

OLW BLOG LIST (Jan) 

1) Margie http://xnomads.typepad.com

2) Jill Conyers http://jillconyers.typepad.com/life_as_i_see_it/

3) Monica http://scraplifters.blogspot.com

4) Lynn W http://crafty-creativity.blogspot.com

5) Miranda http://mirandasscrapsite.blogspot.com

6) Mandy http://captureandcreate.wordpress.com

7) Kathy http://katswonderings.blogspot.com

8) Lisa http://makeyourownescape.blogspot.com

9) Donna http://donnabryantdurand.blogspot.com

10) Abbey http://athomewiththerichardsfamily.blogspot.com/

11) Sam http://learncreatedo.wordpress.com/

12) April http://capturethememories.blogspot.com

13) Nicky http://seejanebake.blogspot.com

14) Rebekah http://istampscrapcraft.blogspot.com/

15) Relly http://rel.ly

16) Nancy http://goshery.blogspot.com

17) Cynthia http://paperpapereverywhere.blogspot.com/

18) Kathryn http://katlodesigns.com

19) Nikki http://inkyart.com.au

20) Heather http://scrappyhare.blogspot.com

21) Gayle www.lifeonlilypadlane.blogspot.com

22) Kristina http://ciqis.blogspot.com

23) Debra http://blakleyhomeplace.blogspot.com

24) Becky http://beckyandjames.com

25) Amy http://reflectivesnapshots.com

26) Marlene http://moore-fun-in-the-sun.blogspot.com/

27) Maureen http://cookingmylife.blogspot.com

28) Cheri http://cheriandrews.blogspot.com

29) Monica Scrapmom http://questtoperfectimperfection.blogspot.com

30) Jan http://mysimplelittlelife.typepad.com

31) Junelle http://www.yes-and-amen.com/

32) Margaret http://www.gutsymom.blogspot.com

33) Sharyn www.analteredlife.com

34) Tere http://terecontodomicorazon.blogspot.com/

Thank you all for stopping by my blog! Whether you comment or not, whether I know you in real life, online life, or not at all, I am truly motivated byYOU.

Love,
The Gutsy Mom.