Another turn of the page…and now its 2022. It seems like we were just starting 2021…and yet, it seems like the year went on forever.
Even though life is still topsy-turvy, I like to have some consistency…and choosing a word for the year is one consistent practice that helps to guide me through the year. Rather than making a resolution that has the possible result of falling short of expectations (and leaves you feeling that the year was a waste or less than it could have been), a chosen word provides a touchstone…a gauge of progress rather than an indicator of success/failure.
So how do you choose a word…for me, it starts with planning for the year ahead…what might be happening both personally and professionally…what do I want to accomplish…what do I want to tackle.
And considering those guidelines, I was lost…the past two years has thrown a monkey wrench into my life (along with everyone else…I know I am not alone with this feeling…misery loves company, right?) Personally, a bucket list trip to Australia/New Zealand was cancelled. Professionally, art shows were postponed, pushing me to step up my Etsy shop. My energy level waned…my interest in collage projects was non-existent. How could I focus on finding a word for the year ahead when I had no idea what I was doing or where I even wanted to go…a sense of panic was starting to creep into my consciousness…
And then one day in the shower, it hit me…
Breathe…just Breathe. I don’t have to figure it all out…take a moment…or a month…or how ever long it takes…there is no deadline nor expected outcome.
(Does anyone else have epiphanies in the shower? Is it the warm water soothing the skin and releasing tension? Is it 15 uninterrupted minutes to myself to think? It’s not the first time this has happened to me…on a regular basis, I figure out solutions to whatever is clogging up my brain while taking a shower. The trick is remembering that insight once I get out and get dressed…maybe I need a whiteboard in the bathroom…now, that’s a design idea!)
And once I had that realization…and actually stopped…and took a breath…I felt a sense of relief.
The past week I’ve taken a little time to clean up my work space…there’s still quite a mess on my large work table with 101 piles of potential projects, just dropped on the table because there was no direction with what I was doing. I plan to continue making Artist Tote Bags…I reorganized my fabric stash (which is definitely decreasing - the point of last year’s commitment to use up what I had and not buy any new art supplies…I did fairly well with that, the only supplies I bought were thread, the webbing I use for bag handles and maybe a total of 3 yards of fabric)
As I was rummaging through the last bin of leftover fabric, I came across a quilt that I started over 25 years ago. I’ve been thinking about how to mesh fabric with vintage papers…the issue of Uppercase magazine, #51, is devoted to quilts + art, sparked some ideas. Since I have a large quantity of fabric squares already cut packaged up with some of the completed quilt strips, I’m thinking of using these squares as a starting point. Another aside…my business name - studio four corners - came about because my original card designs used a square as the primary design motif. So coming back to use squares with a new design concept seemed natural.
in addition to fabric squares, I gathered up other possible materials - blueprints, cyanotypes, buckrum, the backs of old playing cards, a few vintage French pay stubs…plenty to inspire me…
I’m not quite sure what will transpire…there is sure to be a bit of experimentation along the way…and since there’s no deadline, there will be plenty of time to breathe.
Do you pick a word for the year? I’d love to know your word and why you chose it…feel free to comment below.