My One Little Word : Story
Lovely word of the year necklace from Lisa Leonard Designs. Look for a giveaway from Lisa this weekend.
For 2010 I have chosen the word STORY.
Ever since I started scrapbooking back in 2002 I have been capturing life and telling stories. Over the years I have learned that for me, it is the words and the photos that are the most important parts of gathering and documenting our lives (vs. the products that make the albums pretty and the process visually creative).
The Yesterday & Today workshop I have been leading at Big Picture Scrapbooking for the last three months really solidified and increased my specific desire to get the most meaningful stories told. The preparations for that class and the resulting pages I created left a lasting impact on me.
One of the things I realized through the duration of that class is that I have so many stories I want to tell from the past and the present. Some are big and some are small; some detailed and some only faint memories. I don't feel anything but excitement when I think about working through the process of telling them. I am not upset that I haven't told them yet or worried that there are too many. I just want to make it a priority to get them recorded.
With all that in mind I am giving myself an assignment this year. I am going to aim for one layout (one story) told per week in 2010. Some stories will be long and some will be shorter but I am going to make the time to go through my list and proactively tell those stories that are most meaningful to me. I will be posting my layouts here weekly and will be inviting you to tell your meaningful stories along the way.
The other inspiration for my word this year are two books I have been reading over the last few months: A Million Miles in a Thousand Years: What I Learned While Editing My Life
by Donald Miller and Storycatcher: Making Sense of Our Lives through the Power and Practice of Story
by Christina Baldwin.
Both are all about stories: telling, listening, characters, sharing, living.
Both have inspired me to focus more on the concept of story and what that means in the context of my work and my life.
The Storycatcher book has a really nice companion website here. This is a good initial read: Becoming A Storycatcher. You can find excerpts from the book here.
A Million Miles in a Thousand Years has inspired me to look at my life differently. To literally see myself as a character in the story I am living and that I can make changes to impact the outcome of my own personal narrative. I think in some way or another I have always known this and lived this way at some level, but something in Donald's words solidified and clarified some things for me and has given me a new path forward - a new way to think about myself and my story.
One of the biggest things is that I have a couple threads in my own story that I would like to weave in a different direction. I hope to talk more about these storylines in the coming months as I begin writing & living new chapters for myself.
Story is a powerful word and concept. I am excited to continue investigating it throughout this year and throughout the rest of my life.
ONE LITTLE ACTION
One of the thoughts I had as I read the list of words (and the wonderful reasons and stories) over the last couple of days is that it's really not enough to just choose a word. Some sort of action is required to really make a difference. That action may be simply thinking about your word every couple of days. What sort of thing can you make or buy that will serve as a reminder to you? Here's a post from 2008 with a few simple ideas to get you started. I invite you to consider one action you will take related to your word: one little action to go along with your one little word.
EDITED: I just came across this really nice free download "Word of the Year Discovery Tool" from blogger Christine Kane. It's a worksheet for thinking through your word and essentially telling the story of your word. Totally recommended. This is a great action step.
Happy New Year! Peace and blessings to you and yours!
This year my word is GRACE...a quote from Sandra Lee "To balance good days with the bad. Being Proud of yourself, your actions, your life, what you stand for, and the way you give back. Grace is offering understanding and acceptance when the rest of the world does not. A woman with grace is the hero of her home. She makes everything happen for other people in her life but never forgets to make herself a priority too. She runs the household, where she is the strength and foundation. She teaches by example as much as she does with her words." So this year I plan to live a life of GRACE!
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GREAT! I linked to your post...
http://vivrarireaimer.blogspot.com/2010/01/my-one-little-word-health.html
I hope that's ok! You made my day and have started me off on the right foot this year. Thank you:)
Brandi
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Great inspiration...I am struggling with a word because I feel like there are so many demands in life and work. I need to get Donald Millers book because I have enjoyed the others I have read of his.
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Katrina:
I had chosen the word TRANSFORM for my word, but Sandra's words seem to be what I believe in. I may have to reconsider, or just make GRACE an underlying theme. Thank you for sharing this lovely quote.
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Ali- I just came across your blog this week...I am joining OLW2010...initially I felt that my word was focus and after thinking about it for a few days I decided my word will be Clarity which will help bring me into focus. I have also chosen be...as a preface to my action word(s), thoughts and outlook. Thanks for the challenge, it is not always easy or fun to dig deep and reveal the "ugly truth" that we keep deep inside and by bringing it to the surface and saying it out loud it already feels better. Happy New Year!
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I love this project! It's given me so much to think about, all from - literally - one little word.
Thank you.
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Love reading everyones words! Yours is good, can't wait to see what it brings. My word for 2010 is RETHINK. Alot of changes in our life lately( some not of our choosing) so this year I will focus on rethinking the everyday and what is truely important. Have a wonderful year!
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Perfect =0)
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Happy New Year Ali! Thank you for so much inspiration and encouragement. I am revamping my scrapbooking and focusing on the story, the moment, the meaning. Just wanted to say that I love you lots and may God bless you and your beautiful family. Big hugs!
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I'm still working my way through this word, but it keeps coming to mind: together.
Our family will probably move this year, but we'll still be together.
In two weeks, we will adopt a beautiful baby girl. We will be able toGETher.
I have a list of projects that I need to get together.
I have lots of pieces of projects that I need to put together.
I just downloaded the worksheet you shared so I want to wrestle through the meaning of this word so that I can embrace the unbound possibilities of 2010.
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Thanks so much for introducing me to my new favorite New Year's tradition! My 2008 word was ACTION, my 2009 word was CALM and now my 2010 word is LOVE.
Happy New Year!
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found you via shuttersisters.com. note to self: leave them a thank you note. was doing a collage (it's been so long), then when that got too hard, i switched to a list (did i seriously think that would be easier? duh.) then bailed to one word: JustBecause. should give me plenty of space and motivation to mindfully romp in 2010.
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My One Little word this year is CREATE. Last year was appreciate. The year before was LIVE. I need to CREATE a happy place for me, without too much stress and negativity. I need to create an environment where my students with autism reach their fullest potential and I need to CREATE a place for me to get away from them. I can't think of them all the time or I will make myself crazy! (I really want my word to be CREATE, not CRAZY!) LOL
Have a Happy New Year Ali...keep sharing those stories!
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Great giveaways! My word for 2010 is "simplify."
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Faith!
that's my word, for this year. What does the Lord want me to have faith to believe for. Faith is being sure of what you hope for and certain of what you do not see. I still am not sure what I have faith for yet, guess that is a story that will unfold, but I am asking for an abundant gift of Faith.
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Thanks for sharing your story about your word with us!
My "word" for 2010 is M.I.L.K. -actually it is not a real word, but a project '(you can read more about that here: http://www.milkphotos.com/)that inspired me in two ways:
- I want to pay more attention to those special moments in my everyday life
- I want to focus more on photography. It was the reason why I started scrapping, it is my main voice and most of the time the starting point for telling my stories.
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My one little word is PHOTOGRAPHY! Thank you for your inspiration.
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I loved reading your reasons for choosing STORY as your word.
I just spent 10 hours in the car these past few days, going back and forth to my in-lawa in NJ and I had my binder from your BPS class in the car and I was mulling my word around too, ESSENTIAL and I realized it really does capture all that I want for 2010. I want to surround my home with the ESSENTIALS (minus all the clutter!), I want to eat the ESSENTIAL foods for my body (health) and move more (exercise), I want to focus on the ESSENTIAL people in my life (family + friends) and I want to get back to the ESSENTIALS of scrapbooking: words+photos +story!
Thanks for inspiring me Ali!
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I bought Donald Miller's book yesterday at Barnes and Noble. I am half way through it and don't want to put it down. It reminds me of a book I read, "Write It Down, Make It Happen". Somehow, by writing down what you want or would like to happen, where you want to go, etc... and placing it where you see it often, it will come to be. Like you/Don are saying, to set a specific course for your life. A specific story you would like to live. I am inspired by this book, as I was with that one. Thank you for the recommendation. I love books of this nature.
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I'm a few days behind, but it took a while for me to come up with my word: BELIEVE. I'm jumping into uncharted territory this year and doing many things I've never done before. I chose this word as a little life vest to keep me above water.
Thanks for all the inspiration and for providing a platform for us to share our words!
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I think my word for the year will be Balance....my action will be to spend time working on making a wonderful new blog that I will want to post on often to balance my work/life!!
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I love Donald Miller's book. It's incredible. The word "story" couldn't fit you any better. You are undoubtedly a storyteller at heart.
Also, I just wanted to say thank you for doing this whole little one word thing. It will be my third year at doing it, and it has been the catalyst for so much needed change and focus in my life. So very grateful! My word this year is "childlike."
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Ali, thanks for the inspiration. Last year I scrapped less than 10 layouts...I wonder how many stories I lost in the process of just being so busy? What a wake up call! I had already made a resolution to dedicate time each week/month for me to scrapbook, this has just further reinforced it. Thank you! I ordered the books off of your recommendation as well.
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Thanks for this wonderfully inspiring post, Ali. Happy New Year to you and your family!
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What a great idea. Mine came to me quickly. This year it will be BRIGHTEN... I need to add some more color and cheerfulness to my life.
Off to share all these wonderful links.
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