From My Journal: A New Years Promise You Can Keep
Happy New Years Day!
Did you end up making it to midnight? I'm one of those weird artsy poets that takes NYE way too seriously and typically spends midnight thinking of my past year and contemplating on the new one. And honestly, a few years ago I realized I ended up dreaded NYE because I always felt so much shame that another year would pass where I just ended up breaking a ton of promises to myself.
"Well, I never did lose 73 pounds on that gluten-free-sugar-free-dairy-free-kale-only juice cleanse, and my gym membership was just basically blood money I paid for never going. And no, $236 dollars later, I did not become a master winemaker in all of my nonexistent spare time."
So, about three years ago I got a new plan. I would no longer make New Years Resolutions, I would ask God for one word to quantify what my year was supposed to hold and that would be my New Years Declaration. And sometimes that's all it would be--a declaration. My first year the word was 'Brave' and there were many days I didn't feel brave at all. But I would #hashtag it and write it on mirror and say it out loud, "This is Ab's brave year!" as nothing more than a declaration of what the year would be, though it wasn't yet.
And a strange thing happened.
I got to NYE 2016, and I found that I had in fact, had a very brave year. I had done so many things I hadn't thought I was capable of, things that probably would have made failed resolutions for me if I hadn't in fact focused on being brave instead of focusing on resolving to cry in public without feeling stupid.
So, this is your assignment should you choose to accept it: find out what your word is for 2018 and journal it out.
(Don't freak out, I'm about to break that down, I swear.)
How To Actually Do That
1. Set the Mood: Gather your journal, some art mediums you're comfortable with (watercolor, pens, pencils, magazine clippings, patterned paper, literally CRAYONS is A-Okay as long as you're into it), and a space that is conducive to creating. Some people prefer to be alone (aka, me) with music and candles, but I've got friends that love to work at coffee shops. You can do this anywhere you feel comfortable, but the point is to get comfortable.
2. Start Creating: You can turn on music if you would like, but start by closing your eyes. Take a few deep breaths and wait. If you believe in God, invite Him to be near you, and then wait. Do any pictures or colors drift into your mind? If so, start putting that on the page in front of you through whatever medium feels good to you. If nothing comes to your mind, then look at a bunch of colors and see which one you are naturally drawn to and start there. This is my jedi-mind trick for getting my conscious mind to not block me from subconscious mind (these are not the droids you are looking for). Dabbling in creativity takes the pressure off and allows me to connect with my heart and with the Lord.
3. Ask for Your Word: When you've spent some time drawing/painting/pasting pictures/etc and feel adequately warmed up (you are just the artistic version of an athlete, after all) go ahead and ask the Lord for your word for the year. I'm a visual person, so sometimes it helps me if I close my eyes and wait to see what word I see. If you don't identify as faith based, you can also just choose a word that stands out to you. Make sure you write this word down on the page you're creating. There's power in writing it down because it makes it real.
BONUS: If you're feeling pretty good up to this point, something else I like to do is write out examples of how I would like my word to manifest this year. For example, my word for the year is 'Deep Delight,' (and yes I know that's two words and also sometimes I cheat at my own prompts, so there) so I went ahead and wrote out "play" and "reclaim your wonder" because those things would bring me delight. You can be as abstract or specific if you would like. If your word had been 'Delight' and you haven't had ice cream in 6 years but it brings you delight, you could write 'Ice Cream' with a huge exclamation point and paint some sprinkles around it. This is all made up and the points don't matter, so do as little or as much as you feel comfortable with!
Well, there you have it. And OHMYGOD y'all, doing this journaling activity has made me so excited and hopeful and pumped for 2018. Would you help me out by letting me know in the comments if you liked this prompt? I would greatly appreciate your feedback as I practice and continue to (hopefully!) improve.
Keep practicing!
-Abigail
Here's the time lapse video of me working on this journal prompt!