2016 is upon us! I love the idea of a fresh start. The new year is a great time to refocus our lives and make sure that we are minding the gap between who we are and who we want to become. It is a time to stop drifting and start leading a conscious life, one we design ourselves.

While I’ve given up on the concept of ‘resolutions', I do use several practices to help gain clarity on what I really want to achieve. Among them is choosing a single word as a beacon to guide my actions in the year to come.  Unlike resolutions (which often fail within just a few weeks), a word of the year is meant to become a part of you, intertwined throughout the many facets of your life.

Finding your word can come in many different forms. Some years my word has practically thrown itself at me, choosing me instead of the other way around. Other years (like this one) it has taken a little bit of time and effort to determine just the right word for me.

As I saw the days of December dwindling away I realized my word had not found me yet… so I decided to seek it out instead. I made lists of words, tried a few on for size, but none seemed to capture my intentions for 2016.

Then, I got an email from Tangie regarding her updated worksheets for the "Word of the Year" project. Kismet. I immediately printed out the sheets and worked my way through Tangie’s process. Sure enough, with just a few quick exercises, my word emerged triumphantly: STRENGTH.

I cannot wait to dig in and start making my word a part of my daily routine. No doubt I’ll be back with some spin-off projects stemming from my word of the year. But first, I’m off to help my husband choose his word for 2016!

Have you found your word of the year yet? Wondering how you can get ahold of this awesome resource? Become a subscriber to the Art Journal Emporium. It is THE place to be in twenty sixteen!

[posted by Karli-Marie]