I’ve done The Savor Project for the last few years and I’ve changed it up slightly each year to see if I can make it work for me. And year after year, I felt like I didn’t like the system I ended up with. It felt more burdensome than fun. Also, I feel like it always disintegrated to a photo project. A lot of photos from the year but not enough stories.
So for 2015, I decided to do something different. Instead of going for breadth, I am going to go for depth. I will be picking a photo and a story from each week and telling the longer stories.
I am using a 6×12 format. I designed these using the templates Ali Edwards had created for the 31 Stories class a few years ago. Hers was a 12×12 with two 6x12s next to each other but I want to just do a 6×12. I bought 6×12 page protectors and created templates and that’s all I need to get going.
Here’s the first story for this year. It’s actually from the end of last year, I always try out my ideas first so my first few pages are always from the previous year.
Title: The Sticker Book
Story:
This weekend, I was working with Daddy on a coding project for work. The two of you had already used up your computer time so you had to think of some way to spend your afternoon. Nathaniel had the idea of making a sticker book and David, you said, you’d show him now to make one.
After David made the book, the two of you went through my drawer in the garage and picked a stack of stickers for your project. For the next hour, you both worked silently and diligently on your sticker book.
When it was done, you showed me all of its pages. Each page had a category. You had one for money, cheer words, stars, science cheer words, animals, and one fo plants and flowers. I loved seeing how organized you two were and how systematically you went through the whole process.
But, of course, the best part was watching how excited you two were about all the stickers, about your project, and how proud you were to show me the results. Even though you get along well, for the most part, it isn’t very often that you two work together on a project.
I cherish those rare occasions when you work together and you’re not arguing but you’re collaborating and really enjoying spending time together. As you grow up, you will see that there’s nothing as magical as watching people you love, love each other. And there’s nothing as wonderful as seeing your kids get along, enjoy each others’ company, and be happy playing together.
The two of you never cease to remind me how lucky I am. Today was just another example of little moments of magic that surround my everyday life. I am so thankful for you, I am so thankful for our lives together. I am so thankful to get to live these little moments with you.
I love you so very, very much.
Here’s to a year of storytelling!
I like to spread out my projects by style and medium (as well as topic) each year. So when it came to designing my projects, I wanted to pick something that wasn’t painting or coloring, at least not just painting. The very same week I was thinking about all this, I saw this beautiful collage. It was very sparse, elegant and really beautiful.
I decided that’s what I wanted. A collage project. My last collage project was back in 2012 so I thought it might be fun to tackle one again. Something different than what I did last time. I think….but we’ll see.
The introspective part of this project is to couple this art with my code desires. I went to pinterest and made a board of images/phrases that remind me of my core desires. My plan is to print one for each of my collage pages. This way, I can always remember my core desired feelings.
That’s the plan, at least.
Here’s another look at week 1:
Love all the shimmer.
I am planning to keep my spreads relatively sparse. Mix in some paint. Have fun.
Here’s to a year of collages that remind me to focus on feeling the way I want to feel.
I read Bark for book club. This is a collection of short stories by the amazing Lorrie Moore.
I’ve always been a fan of Lorrie Moore and her wonderful ways of telling sad, sad stories. This book is no exception. The stories are sad. Beautifully told, but so sad that it’s almost tough to get through the book. At least for me.
If you’re a short story fan, I’m sure you’ve already heard of Lorrie Moore, so you don’t need my recommendation on this one.
Last year, I added stitching to my yearly projects. I liked doing something that didn’t involve painting, drawing, or pretty paper. It was different. I liked going outside my comfort zone. So I wanted to try that again this year. I knew I didn’t want to do stitching again. But I still wanted something different.
I thought and thought and then it came to me out of nowhere.
I would carve stamps.
One stamp for each week.
This might be crazy, it might be boring, it might be useless. I am not sure how it’s going to work out. But what I do know is that I am having fun thinking about it now. I had fun carving the first few stamps I did.
It might be tough to come up with 52 ideas. We’ll see. I plan to start the year with the words that are meaningful to me, so, of course, BRAVE had to be the first one.
Here’s to a year of carving!
Each year, I like to make sure I do one project that involves painting. Acrylics for the most part but any kind of painting. I liked the idea of Remembering things like I did for last year’s Remember This project. And I signed up for Life Book in 2015, too.
So Note to Self will be a year of painted pages, using mostly Life Book lessons and a moleskine watercolor journal.
At least that’s the plan.
For this first page, I used Flora Bowley’s lesson from Life Book 2014. Even though it has no writing, my note to self here to let myself be more free. Looser. This piece was done in many many layers and without any forethought. With some structure and grouping of colors but not much else.
It’s a reminder that I need to practice letting go. Like everything else, it’s a practice. This is also a reminder that what looks like chaos at first might end up as something magnificent. Part of the trick is trusting the process. Learning to see what’s there. To see inside the noise. And let the beauty emerge.
I am looking forward to another year of wonderful reminders and joyful art.
This is a January layout for My Mind’s Eye:
Journaling reads:
Dear David,
When I was a little girl, I asked my mom if I could learn to play the piano. She said no. I am not sure why since she rarely said no to things, but she did to this one. Almost thirty years later, I still wish she’d let me take lessons. Over the years, I’ve tried to learn an instrument. In NY, I took saxophone lessons and tried to learn how to read music.
But I never succeeded.
As I’ve gotten older, I’ve given up on the music and taken up other ways to enjoy my time. I also promised myself that if either of my kids ever asked for musical instrument lessons, I’d make a point to say yes.
A few years ago, I asked you if you’d like to learn guitar and you said yes but then decided, at the last minute, that you didn’t want to after all. I was disappointed but I didn’t say anything. Last year, after you sang at the school talent show, I asked you again. This time you said, yes.
I emailed your music teacher who had been unavailable last time we asked her and she said she was happy to do it this time. So we bought you a guitar, some picks, and a stand.
And the lessons began.
Sometimes it’s a challenge to get you to practice and when I ask you to do it, you sulk a bunch. And you whine when you remember that your teacher is about to come over. But when you actually start playing the guitar, most of that vanishes. You have already learned several songs by heart and I can see you working your way through several more.
One of my favorite things to do is to watch you play. To hear the beautiful sounds you can make with the instrument. The way you get excited about learning to play a new song that you love to sing. The way you’re always so in the momentum of it all when your teacher leaves that you always ask if you can keep practicing. The way your face lights up when you get a chord right.
My love, this hobby might end up going nowhere or you might keep it up and become a wonderful guitar player. Either way, I am enjoying it for as long as I can. Thank you for filling our house with music and for making the little girl in me so very happy. I am so proud of you and I love you with all my heart.
During the summer, I finally signed up for classes at SketchBook Skool after pondering them for way too long. The first class I signed up for was “seeing.” It had some of my very favorite sketchers like Danny (who is in all the classes, of course) and Brenda Swenson and Cathy Johnson and Andrea Joseph. Once all the people I loved were on the list, I just couldn’t not sign up.
And I am so glad I did.
The class was amazing. It inspired me to do the 75 Day Sketch Challenge and after that was over, I decided I wanted to keep sketching every single day. Even if it was something small. And since I really missed the color during the 75 days, I decided to sketch something small and color it with watercolors every morning.
And that was the birth of the Everyday Brave project.
I got a Watercolor Moleskine and played around for a few pages, and then I started what looks like the page you see above. Each week I plan to share a spread with some small sketches and some daily journaling. In the beginning, my journaling was about thoughts, daily musings, etc. But I’ve decided to use this project to keep track of my brave acts daily to remind myself to be braver and to be aware of when I am being brave. So even though the first few spreads will be random, the journaling starting in the new year will be about daily brave acts.
Here’s the left side of this page. It has a poppy bagel with tea and in the bottom middle is my ipad which I was using to listen to some audiobooks.
And the right side of my page which has the other half of the ipad on the bottom and a Starbucks latte on the right.
And there we are. Here’s to a year of little and big brave acts and a year full of sketches!
Like each year, after I thought about my word and my plans for 2014, I began to think more and more about what the word and the priorities meant. Since I tend to be self-reflective during this time of year, this is very long and mostly for my benefit (I like having a record of my plans and my thoughts) so feel free to skip. I won’t be offended.
By the way, this is influenced by Chris’s annual review article. I’ve read this before and have always liked the idea. I’m a technical person at heart and all these specific goals, measurable steps, etc. are right up my alley. Since I have my list of six priorities this year, I thought it would be a good exercise to see if I could come up with a few goals for each.
I will post about each of the projects I mention here, over the next week. I’ll then come back and link them here but I promise it’s all coming in the first week of the year.
The theme for this year will be brave. I want to do what feels brave. What makes me come alive. What makes me feel serene and generous. I want to take care of myself, inside and out. I want to open, to expand. To try new things. To find out what makes me come alive. To set new boundaries. To thrive in my life.
Family
- Remind both kids that their lives have much to celebrate (David and Nathaniel’s Books of Happy Memories)
- Read daily to Nathaniel
- Work with David to help prepare him for the ISEE and help improve all of his academics
- Take photo of full-family and write updates weekly (Project Weekly Diary)
- Create a weekly celebration ritual as a family.
- Volunteer in both David and Nathaniel’s schools
- Reserve one night every other week to do something special with Jake.
- Capture and Tell our family stories (Stories of Twenty Fifteen)
- Visit my family and Jake’s family. Take a skiing and camping trip together.
Healthy
- Create an exercise routine for the week that involves running, weights, strength exercises and do something each day
- Take a minimum of 10K steps daily
- Do the 5-2 plan all year long. Even on my 5 days, eat whole and healthy
- Get my vitamin C levels tested again and take the vitamin daily to bring my levels back up
- Get minimum 7 hours of sleep every night and 8 on the weekends
- Take regular walks with the kids, go out in nature regularly
- Take care of my skin regularly.
- Floss daily.
- Drink 45oz of water daily.
- Eat a vegetable with each meal.
Brave
- Drive on the freeway more regularly
- Keep track of my daily brave acts (Project Everyday Brave)
- Take my kids on a vacation just the three of us
- Go on a vacation alone
- Go on monthly adventures with Jake
- Block out the hours for each of my weeks. Designate what i will do in each block.
Serene
- Read a book a week (Project A Book a Week)
- Journal each morning.
- Carve Stamps. (Project Fifty-Two Stamps)
- Go camping
- Take daily walks
- Get 7-8 hours of sleep each day
- Do a body-scan each night.
Alive
- Learn to carve stamps (Project Fifty-Two Stamps)
- Practice Collage. (Project You Choose)
- Practice Sketching (Project Everyday Brave)
- Do something brave every day
- Learn new art techniques (Project Remember This)
- Continue to coach clients
- Spend some time outside every day
- Hug and kiss the kids a lot every day!
- Learn something new each month
Abundance
- Volunteer in the kids’ schools.
- Spend time with Jake and the kids each day.
- Regularly attend both book clubs
- Extend an invitation to someone new once a month
- Create a monthly night to reach out to people I love
- Go out to breakfast/lunch once a week with a good friend (or a potential good friend). If not possible, call/email a friend to reconnect
- Donate something each month.
- Find a volunteer opportunity to do as a family or with David.
- Volunteer at work.
Open
- Make and keep regular pedicure and hair appointments
- Come up with a self-care routine (lotion, floss, etc.)
- Say yes to invitations
- Show up at events/parties
- Say yes to my boys. Say yes.
There we go. As more creep up over the year, I will likely come here and add/alter as needed.
Schedule for Blog
I’ve also come up with a tentative schedule for my blog for 2014:
- Mondays : Everyday Brave
- Tuesdays : Note to Self
- Wednesdays : A Book a Week + Fifty-Two Stamps
- Thursdays : You Choose
- Fridays : Stories of Twenty Fifteen
- Saturdays : David and Nathaniel’s Books of Happy Memories
- Sundays : Weekly Diary
I wanted to have themes for my thoughts posts but it never happened. I am going to attempt to try this for next year but I have learned that I should make no promises since I seem to always fall short with this. Here are some topics I’d like to possibly write about:
- Coaching
- What I Learned
- Productivity
- Brave
- Lessons from Ordinary Life
These coupled with my core desired feelings are what I hope guides me this year. I know this year will come with its own challenges and surprises. I want to be open to all it plans to offer to me and I want to stay serene in the face of my challenges. I want to live each and every moment of my life fully alive and brave.
Here’s to a wonderful 2015!
This is a December layout for My Mind’s Eye:
Journaling reads:
As the year comes to a close, I’ve been thinking about my life and the upcoming year and what I want for myself in 2015. For the last few weeks, I’ve been wanting to plan my projects for the next year and revisit my core desires to see if they are still the same or whether new ones speak to me, now.
Last week, I finally curled up with the book and started answering the questions. I already knew my word for 2015 would be brave which is also going to be one of my Core Desired Feelings for the year. But then I looked through all my journaling and tried to pick out other words that jumped at me.
Serene has been with me for all of 2014 but I know that I am not willing to let that one go. Serenity is really all I seek in the world. As I move to a new job, start getting older and as David starts transitioning out of elementary school, I need to be serene more than ever. I thought briefly about picking equanimity but decided serene is the exact word that speaks to my soul.
The next word that jumped out at me was alive. I want to feel alive. To me, this is even more than engaged. I want to feel fully alive. I want to do things that scare me. I want to have experiences that overwhelm me in all the good ways. I want to feel fully awake and alive in my body. I want to be present for all my days. I want to smile wide, embrace all of myself, and suck out all the marrow of my life.
The next two words belong together. The first one of the two was the one that came to me first. Abundance. I want to have a mentality of abundance. I want to feel the opposite of constricted. I want to feel expansive. I want to feel like there’s so much much more of everything I worry about, time, worthiness, friends, money, opportunities, kindness, and success. I want to feel like we each get our own full pie and that I want to share mine with everyone. With the whole world. I want the kindness and ease that comes with the feeling of abundance. The generosity of life and spirit.
And then, I also want the opposite. I want to be open to receive. I want to be open to others. Open to the universe. Open to the possibilities. I want to allow others to help. Allow others to love me. To cherish me. I want to allow myself to feel everyone’s love and awe and kindness and generosity. I don’t want to question these things, I don’t want to feel undeserving or unworthy or not-belonging. I want to feel open to everyone. To everything. Wide open.
So here are my core desires for 2015. Sort of similar to the ones from 2014 but not completely. I want 2015 to be the year I fully stepped into being myself. The year I fell in love with myself, with everyone around me, with life, with the universe. I want 2015 to be the year I let the serenity spread from the inside out. I want it to be the year I feel abundantly alive and open myself up to life. And I think brave is just the right word for this year since all of these things will require much courage.
I am ready. Bring it on.
I started the practice of picking my Core Desired Feelings thanks to Zewa, last year. I really liked the concept and if you’re curious I recommend you go to Danielle’s site and/or buy the book so you can do the exercises.
Towards October, I started thinking about what I might want my code desires to be for the next year. I felt like the ones I had for this year (serene, engaged, whole, grace) were still speaking to me so I wasn’t sure if the exercise would be pointless and I would learn nothing new. I wasn’t even sure if I was ready to let go of those words. I wasn’t sure of anything but the desire to see what would jump out at me kept increasing so I finally set down one night, grabbed the book, and decided to see what would happen.
I did all the writing exercises furiously. I didn’t stop and think. I just wrote and wrote. And then I stepped back to see what patterns emerged so I could circle them.
To my delight and surprise, I ended up with somewhat different words this year, even though I think the sentiments are quite similar. I spent some time thinking about my words and how they sounded and how they felt to say them. The kind of feelings they brought up in me when I said them out loud.
After a few iterations, I finally settled on a list that felt right. Here are my words for 2015:
- serene
- abundance
- open
- alive
Even now, as I look at these words,they light me up.
After I was done, I thought more of each of the words, what they mean to me, how that word feels and came up with a more extended description for each:
serene: this is the same as last year. i love this word. it came up again this year in several places. serene is almost the perfect word for the feeling i want to have. it’s like content but not just content. it’s serene, calm, peaceful. Without worry: that’s what the word serene makes me think of. Centered. It’s how I want to feel. When I feel serene, I make wiser choices. I can show people how much they mean to me. I can communicate clearly and kindly. When I feel serene I am the best version of myself.
abundance: this maybe is sort of similar to whole from last year but for this year, abundance was the exact right word for me. I want to live with an attitude of abundance. the opposite of scarcity. I want to come from a place where i believe there’s plenty more. Where there’s enough to go around for all of us. Enough time, enough money, enough opportunities. Enough friendship and love. I don’t want to feel stingy and small. I want to feel abundance. When I feel abundance, I am kind and generous and giving. I am optimistic. I am excited. I feel full of possibility. When I feel abundance I am the best version of myself.
open: this one goes hand in hand with abundance. at first, i only had abundance which ,for me, is about giving and offering more of myself, my things, my time, my service to others. Open is the opposite, it’s being open when people offer me their kindness, service, help, advice, etc. Being open to receive. Being willing, being grateful. Receiving it with grace. When I feel open, I do not try to hide parts of myself. When I feel open, I am not paranoid. I don’t worry about the why, I just accept with grace. When I feel open I am the best version of myself.
alive: this might be 2015’s version of engaged but it feels so much better for me for this year. I want to feel fully alive. I want to feel all of my feelings. I want to do things that feel brave but make me come alive. I want to do things that make me come alive. I want to bring more flowers into my house. Plants. I want to surround myself with life. I want to take walks in nature. I want to feel the air. I want to smell the sea. I want to make the most of all my minutes. When I feel alive I am brave. When I feel alive I am happy. When I feel alive I am optimistic and joyful. When I feel alive, I am the best version of myself.
So here we are. Four feelings that make me the best version of myself. Accompaniments to my word of the day this year. Feelings I want to remember to come back to again and again.
Here’s to a serene year full of abundance. To being open to all possibilities and being fully alive. And doing it all bravely!
ps: as i seem to each year, i decided to tinker with my site again. i changed a lot of the content on the right side and got rid of the left side. i also put photos for all my projects for 2015 which will show up empty until the end of next week when i’ll have posted about each of them. i think i sorted out all issues but if you see any problems or if a link you wanted is missing, feel free to let me know and i’ll fix it asap. thank you!
Today I know was a gift from the Soul Comfort class I took towards the end of 2013. And it ended up being one of my favorite projects from 2014. It never felt burdensome or cumbersome.
I really liked doing such a wide variety of pages. The art was fun. Learning to navigate the thin and non-waterproof pages of the book was fun. Playing with such a variety of mediums was also fun.
But the best part was the journaling. Getting to write out such interesting topics. Using the pages to collect my thoughts. I really loved it.
I seriously considered continuing the project for 2015 in some capacity. But I like to change things up. So I decided to bit farewell to this particular project. However, I am keeping my prompts and may end up using them in some other way.
In the meantime, I love love love this book that I ended up with. And I will go back and visit it regularly.
It was one of the few projects I didn’t abandon or modify in any way. I found a system early on in the year and it worked well enough for me to carry it throughout. Partly because I think this was a very flexible project. It was fun, diverse, introspective and rewarding.
I am very grateful to Melody for her wonderful ideas that never let me down.
Some years, it’s a hard to pick a word. Some years, I have too many words and I am not sure which one to pick out of the lot. Some years nothing stands out. Some years, they all stand out.
And then there are years like this.
This year’s word came to me all the way back in April. I was sitting at the Spring Luncheon for my kids’ school and I heard the new PTA president give a speech. I was feeling grateful and serene and suddenly had the thought that I should do more for the school. I should participate in the school’s PTA. I emailed the president that same day and asked her what she needs help with. A few weeks later, another opportunity came up where there was a need and I volunteered again. I was scared, unsure, but I just kept going. I said yes.
I listened to the small whispers again and again. And they paid back. They made me feel a stronger sense of belonging. I felt more alive. More involved. Happier.
And it didn’t stop there.
I got an email with a job opportunity. I considered it. I pursued it. I talked about. And I got more of them. Thing kept rolling. They were in motion now. I was listening to the universe and it was rewarding me again and again. Encouraging me to practice courage. I loved this brave, new Karen.
It became clear to me that I wanted to continue this trend.
2015 was going to be my year of being BRAVE.
I want to practice courage in all areas of my life. Remind myself that I already am brave in so many ways so I can use that energy to fuel more courage.
I want to embrace this new, bolder side of me. I want take more chances, big and small. I want to show up, step up, and take a chance.
Here are some things Brave is about, for me:
- Being myself is brave. Owning who I am. Not trying to hide it or change myself to fit others or the situation.
- Choosing a different path is brave. Not always taking the easy or common route.
- Taking Action is brave. Not just talking about things but doing. Not just planning, scheming, hoping, dreaming.
- Doing it Anyway is brave. Brave is not about not being afraid. It’s being scared and moving forward anyway. It’s having faith.
- Listening to the whispers of the universe is brave. Paying attention to what my soul wants. Listening to and honoring its wishes.
- Doing the hard thing is brave. For me this has a lot to do with self care. Working out, eating well, taking care of my body. Choosing the harder path.
- Doing the right thing is brave. Speaking your truth. Standing up for what you believe in. Standing your ground.
- Letting go is brave. Apologizing. Not holding on to anger or disappointment. Giving more chances. Forgiving.
- Responding is brave. And not reacting. Not screaming, not being cruel, not panicking. Not making it about me. Remaining calm. Taking the time to pause, and respond.
- Equanimity is brave. Embracing serenity. Slowing down. Way down.
- Choosing to thrive is brave. Not settling. Not trying to make myself small. Standing up tall and owning my life.
- Feeling my feelings is brave. Being able to be sad, disappointed, scared and even happy.
- Celebrating is brave. Acknowledging achievement. Patting myself in the back.
These all feel brave to me. All of these are hard in some way or another and require courage on my part. (There are many others, too.) I hope to be braver in all of these areas by practicing as much as I can.
Here’s to a brave 2015.
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projects for twenty twenty-five
projects for twenty twenty-four
projects for twenty twenty-three
projects for twenty twenty-two
projects for twenty twenty-one
projects for twenty nineteen
projects for twenty eighteen
projects from twenty seventeen
monthly projects from previous years
some of my previous projects
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