Changing Years

We may already be 43ish days into 2011 but it is still a new year. Thinking about the purpose and possibilities of 2011 has me thinking of past years. I've had tremendously exciting years as well as terribly disappointing years. I've had years of newness and years that were so void they just passed by without even waking up enough to know what year it was. I think I prefer not to ever have another void year.

2011 - several online friends have been discussing what their word for the year is. I don't know my word yet. What I do know about this particular year is this: It's a year that will not be void. It will not be a disappointing year. It will be a year of purpose, which in of itself is exciting. I don't know how 2011 will end and I may not have a concrete goal on this date for the year but I know that no matter what 2011 will be one of the best years I've had in the last decade.

2010 - this was the year of change. I didn't recognize it at the beginning of the year or even in the middle of the year but I definitely embraced it the last part of the year. Some of the best things come when unplanned life happens! 2010 was the return of several things for me. Thanks to my cousin Shannon http://www.blu-bambu.com/ I was able to return to a more artistic way of thinking and looking at life everyday. She introduced me to Shona http://www.shonastudio.blogspot.com/ . I really enjoyed working through her book. I may not have finished all the projects or published all my work as requested but I thoroughly enjoyed every moment and it opened my eyes to things that I had missed in my prior void years. I found many muses through this process and to this day I enjoy following each of them and see how they are inspired. Seeing others inspiration creates inspiration. It's kind of like smiling - it's contagious and it spreads to places unknown.

My cousin also implanted a phrase in my mind and it has meant far more to me than the words. "No naughty negative self talk!" That was used in an email conversation regarding a project for The Artistic Mother. (and no I'm not a mother so no one has missed any monumental news) However, as I look back at 2010 and all the changes that occurred I realize that that phrase has been life changing. I think that when you have so many void years that you yourself become void. You lose your sense of self worth. That self worth has been regained.

The picture above on this entry was a great day. It was a day driving home from a new job and my eyes were wide open. I couldn't take my eyes off the sky. And in the FB world most of my friends were posting pictures and comments regarding the sky. It was remarkable so I had to take advantage of the moment and snag several pictures (while driving because I didn't want to miss it).