OLW 2022 MEGA Thread

I am like you. I was doing great until the "light" prompt. Not sure how to tie it into my word, "strong". Was thinking of maybe turning the theme into the "light" of my life, the reasons I want to be strong. I don't know yet.

Mom- Big hugs to you. I hope your son is doing better. I think you said he went back to the toxic girlfriend? I hope you are doing well too.

I've definitely fallen off this year, so I don't have a ton to contribute, but this week I managed to print out the 2 layouts I did that were fully digital (March & May). I am really surprised by how much I like them now that they are printed. It's making me want to do a few more to "catch-up". I typically just include my OLW layouts in my regular PL albums so it's not as obvious when I miss a month (or 3).

Next year, I'm thinking of doing a seporate album. Maybe that will encourage me to stick with it throughout the year.

paget I'd love to say I was keeping up with the classroom content, but it's been really hit or miss for me. A few I've done the writing but not made the layouts (yet, I hope). A few I haven't even managed to watch. For example, I haven't done the interview for this month, but I've read the questions. I also don't see myself having someone interview me. Agree it is a really personal project. DH would do it, he's a good sport, but especially since I have a lot of "feelings" around my word home, I'd rather write it out alone where I have time to think things through. My favorite Joan Didion quote is spot on for me: “I write to know what I think.”

One of my favorite parts of having a word every year is it helps give me a lens to dig a little deeper into what my life is currently and my thoughts and feelings. I love the typical currently stuff like favorite movies and the like, but OLW gives me a chance to make time to document the deeper thoughts/feelings. I think that's why I keep coming back to this project year after year. Even if I don't do all the prompts, I'm always happy with what I did complete. 

Love that you are doing OD as part of your PL! I wouldn't have thought of that. The OD thread really makes me want to do OD next year when the baby is bigger and hopefully we have some sort of a life again that includes leaving the house, haha. 

Thank you scrappyem for your thoughts and experience! It seems like sometimes there might be a project or prompt that doesn’t resonate with me but I could still be reflecting or do some other project and even if I didn’t, I can still be thinking of my word and moving along/making progress in that way. Glad to hear you think it’s worthwhile even if you don’t always complete (or complete timely).

paget You can absolutely make it your own, maybe more so than some other class based projects since it is so personal. For the daily habit prompt (which I think was May this year, historically it has been in Feb), I jotted down daily notes for everyday in May as my habit, but I made a completely different layout for May documenting my feelings around "home" at that time. I pulled a few of my favorite photos from that month and used a digital templet that had plenty of journaling space. I did pull some of my journaling from those daily notes but I did what I felt like for my album, so for me, even if I might do the prompt, or part of the prompt, if I want to document something else for the album, that's what I do.


There's some really creative folks in the FB group, who do really lovely work. Occasionally there are some examples there of folks who do something a little different but folks mostly follow the prompts as far as I can tell. Agree with Texas Scrap that most activity happens in December and then the first quarter of year. I kind of wish it would stay more active throughout the year but get why it doesn't. Love that we have the Peas check-in here.  

I'm working on the September photography prompt. I've done all of the other prompts, but I may skip October's. The OLW process is so personal that I really can't see having an interview with anyone about how I'm doing with my word. It's a shame because otherwise I love Krystal's work. She has sent out some Monday emails that offer alternatives to the interview, so I'll take a look once I'm done with the photographs.

I think this is a project that can be meaningful even if you don't finish each part. I've had a word each year since 2014, and it has colored how I think and feel about my life.

kimba, thanks for the reminder about the Oct. 2021 prompt. It was one of my favorites, and I wouldn't mind making another affirmation booklet this year.

mom, I hope things are looking up for your son. It's so difficult to watch our children suffer. I hope you are taking care of yourself as well.

I was happy to see Ali is the instructor for November. I listened to most of her videos, she really knows how to present the concept. Not to dis the other ladies, they just have different styles. Listened to her on my drive home, I came home and went thru a bunch of words/phrases ephemera, but just tucked it into a folder to let the lesson percolate for another day.

I have an idea to add to my Dec OLW Wrap up. I'm going to grade my months. 6 months on each layout, 2 layouts, make a little picture frame for each month and rate them. And do some journaling which backs up my reasoning. Because,overall (SO FAR) I have had a good year. But some months, such as May and October, weren't that great. I think it would be good to look back on in my OLW book.