OLW 2018 - ONE LITTLE WORD

I thought I'd start a OLW thread for 2018 and hopefully we can keep it going throughout the year.

1) What is your word? Focus

2) Why did you choose it? What does it mean to you? My brain has been scattered in 20 million directions, I want to focus on doing more of less things including decluttering my house.

3) Have you done it in the past? I've picked a word and took the class once but never finished it. Previous words were adventure, words, and light.

4) Do you plan on taking the class? no, I took it on the year I did "words" and it often didn't fit my word since it wasn't a verb.

5) What supplies are you planning to buy? since scrapbooking is one of my focuses (focii? a focal point?) scrapbook supplies as needed to complete layouts regularly

Thanks for starting this thread!

1) What is your word? grow

2) Why did you choose it? What does it mean to you? Lots of reasons! I like to choose a word that is general enough that I can apply it to various situations. Next year though my husband and I are planning on having a baby so I will literally "grow" a human and grow our family. But I also want to grow my work experiences & knowledge, grow our savings account, literally planning on growing a garden this spring, and generally grow as a person. I also liked that it is a planned story theme during next year which will give me extra inspiration & supplies focused on my word.

3) Have you done it in the past? Yes, this will be my fourth year. I have previously done brave (2015), present (2016) and choose (2017). I have completed a 6x8 album for each year in the past and only skipped one or two prompts overall. So far for 2017 my album is complete except for the December & October prompts.


4) Do you plan on taking the class? Yes! Already signed up. I have taken the class the past 3 years and am starting to get a little bored with the repetitiveness, but I do still look forward to the lessons and like to see Ali's progress. Plus I want to share my project in a "private" facebook group & message board rather than more publicly and I enjoy the community that comes with the class.


5) What supplies are you planning to buy? I already ordered the main kit & a few of the add-ons from Ali & am planning on using one of the 6x8 story albums to hold the project because the albums she makes for the project tend to be too thin for me. In the past few years I have really focused on follow the prompts and making that the focus of my album. Next year I am going to switch it up a bit and make my album be more of a personal project life (documenting my growth with my word & feelings as opposed to daily life, because I have a family album for that) and include a variation of the prompts. I'm not sure yet how much I'm going to stick to this, but I have an aesthetic in mind I'd like to try so we'll see! I also keep a bullet journal regularly and tend to take notes while watching the class video for the month. I might include more of the writing prompts in that format as opposed to in my album to keep my album more in line with the aesthetic I have in mind.

1) What is your word?i think I’m settling on steady.
Why did you choose it? What does it mean to you?last year was a year of big change and this year I just want to chill on all the change and not get too nuts. I think by steadying on some things I can get good on them and create some balance and calm.
Have you done it in the past?yes. Last year was grow. I took a ton of photography classes and really gained some new skills. That’s why this year I want to just work in honing them and making steady progress. I also got a new job last year and am still feeling hectic there. I would like to make steady progress on figuring out what I am doing and really develop the team I run. Also related is I would like to settle into a comfortable routine at home. I also would like to increase my bank account, steadily.
Do you plan on taking the class? I would love to hear what others think about the class. Currently I don’t think I will take it.
What supplies are you planning to buy?im probably not making an album. I didn’t this year.

Hope it's ok to stick this here. Not replying to the OP because haven't decided about OLW yet.

But, Ali is really good about putting up blog posts w/words people have chosen. In case it helps, here is the 2016 list (from 2015). There are other posts if you google.

Gonna look through and see what it sparks. Hey, maybe "spark".

aliedwards.com/2016/01/the-reading-of-the-words-2016

1) What is your word? I just found a word that spoke to me this morning - deep, go deeper


2) Why did you choose it? What does it mean to you? . I got a blog post in my email (from raptitude.com) imagining what it would be like to not start anything new, buy anything new, or skip around for a year - to just go deeper into what you already have in your life. Read and re-read the books you own, really get to know the things you have just dabbled in. That really spoke to me. I don't want to be shallow. I want to dig deeper.


3) Have you done it in the past? I did the class one year and then chose a word for 2 more years without doing an awful lot with them.


4) Do you plan on taking the class? I wasn't going to, but now that I've found a word that really speaks to me I'm tempted. But then again, I already bought the class - maybe I could dig deeper into the prompts that I >already have<

I would prefer that OLW was a one-time-buy project (like Shimelle's JYC) or at least had a discount rate for alumni. I know the cost isn't high each year, but it's mostly recycled content...


5) What supplies are you planning to buy? So far not planning to buy anything special. I have plenty of stuff to dig deeper into!

Thanks for the recommendation. I'll look into it 

i dont know if i am going to participate in this. I am torn between words. Tossing around CALM, PEACE, BREATHE. I am deeply involved in the trump resistance and i need to learn how to handle the stress better.

I have never done this before, and TBH, I am not good at keeping up with these sorts of things. I don't plan on taking the class at this point, but who knows. It might help keep me on track.

One of the OLW prompts is to think about secondary words that might be related to your main word, do having a few closely related words in mind is OK. One way to approach the choosing is to work with the word, define it, use it in phrases/idioms, see which words feel good or calls to you, and which has the most meanings that speak to you. That's basically the first month's prompt, btw. It's OK to go into it with a couple of related words and see where that takes you. I feel like verbs often work well with the prompts that Ali gives, but if you're not doing the class it probably doesn't matter. And if a word feels right you're much more likely to follow through. 

Susannah Conway offers a printable workbook that might help for people who don't want to do Ali's year long course (which is quite hard to stick with). I haven't done it myself but she seems to have quite a big following and she has a beautiful Instragram. There's also a free email course to help you find your word here which sounds like it might be helpful. 

ETA: the Unravel Your Year workbook link (free sign up)

I haven't ever taken the class. 
I have a list of my words from the past, and I am tossing around the idea of putting them on a canvas or in a frame.

This will be my tenth year choosing a "word".

Sometimes I choose a saying, instead a single word.
For me, my "word" sums up.....what I am feeling, a motto to guide me through the upcoming year, and is reflective of me at this moment and for the foreseeable future.

My "word" for 2018 is "Steady As I Go".
It's a spin-off of Dave Matthews song "Steady As We Go".
I chose this saying, because I feel that I am wandering along through my life, slow and steady. Thankfully, going forward, instead of the proverbial "one step forward, two steps back" (<< that seemed to be my way life, for many years).
I am very happy in my current phase of life....in my 50's, living simply, downsizing, wandering along, taking things one day at a time, enjoying being single, with a mix of the usual day to day and some adventure. Steady as I go.

I'm so torn about this project. I really would like to try it. But I think of all the other projects that have piled up on me this past year I'm just not sure I need another to take on. But then it's only once a month. AAAAHHH! Does anyone have any links to OLW albums others have finished that are not completed by Ali? Looking for additional inspiration.

1) What is your word? Begin

2) Why did you choose it? What does it mean to you? I came across this quote, "Whatever you can do, or dream you can do, begin it. Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it. " It spoke to me. I am a procrastinator and often if I just begin things aren't so hard.

3) Have you done it in the past? I chose a word once before but didn't do anything with it.

4) Do you plan on taking the class? No.

5) What supplies are you planning to buy? Nothing special for this.

I've been thinking about doing OLW this year because a couple of words have been haunting me.

1. NOW and TODAY are the two words that are really speaking to me.

2. In the last year we have been touched by a number of deaths. Some were expected and a couple were shocking, but all have made me reflect and reprioritize a few things. Living for today and getting things done now are competing for my attention.

3. No

4. I will sign up for the class.

5. I don't plan to buy supplies.

I'll need to think on it some more but I might end up using your word this year too ... it would fit well with all of my previous words and remind me that I AM making progress and that taking steps in the right direction sometimes IS good enough

Thanks!

thanks for sharing that link. I am still on the fence...not sure why I am dragging my feet. 

Does anyone know if there is going to be a digital kit for this? SaveSave