One Word 2014

I have been following the one word trend for a few years now. I participated, sort of, in a one word class in 2011. My word that year was joy. My book stops at, probably, month four. I’m not sure why it stopped, although I think it was because we moved into scrapbooking techniques I’m not familiar with and I freaked out a bit. I didn’t choose a word for a couple of years after that. This year, I’ve chosen a word. I feel confident in my word and I believe that it says who I want to be and where I want to be when this process is over. My word this year is “brave.”

I honestly thought it was going to be write. I know that I need to write and I need to be creating and developing my ideas into things that people want to read and learn from. However, I realized that writing really isn’t an issue for me – it’s being brave enough to put my writing out there and let other people see it. It’s trying that new thing I haven’t done before. It’s discovering that yes, I can scrapbook in a traditional way as well as in a way that is more me – digital all the way, baby.

What does it mean to me to be brave? It means taking chances. It means standing up and doing the things I know I should and need to do. It means writing as much as I can and trying to do something with that writing. My goal is to write everyday. We’ll see if I can really do that and just keep writing until I produce things that other people want to read and maybe, just maybe, I’ll end this year being braver than I was when I started.

It means taking more chances with homeschooling. Giving Ben and Katie wings and helping them find their path in life. It means being open to possibilities and to change and allowing myself to follow the paths I find where they lead.

This may be one of the most honest things I’ve written in a long time. Being brave doesn’t mean not having a filter, it just means that I have to bring myself to the party, to the game, and do my best to show up.

So what is your word and how are you going to make it come alive in you this year?