Here we are, two weeks into the new year. How are you feeling?

Have you chosen a word for your year? Are you setting intentions?

Wednesday morning dawned with a blowy, snowy storm. Most mornings after breakfast and coffee I start my day with a walk.

I cut handfuls of dead flowers from my garden this week. Their shapes are interesting. Petals twisted. Leaves furled as if frozen in motion.

It’s almost November, two more months left in 2021. At this time last year, many of us were ready for 2020 to be over. Ready to have a fresh start with a new year.

I just got back from my long morning walk with Clara. It feels good. To be out in the winter mornings. To notice the changing landscape.

Back in December I chose “DO” as my word for the year. Lately I’ve been thinking about that choice. Wondering if it’s a bit ironic. Wondering how I feel about it now. Wondering if I should choose another word for the rest of the year.

Back in January I wrote a list of intentions for the year. First in my journal. Then in my sketchbook. And again on a separate piece of paper that I hung in my studio. The very first intention on the list: “Live a holistically creative life”.

I’d been slowly accumulating a list of possible words for this year. Beautiful, poetic words. Any of them would have been a good guide for my year. I thought I’d decided on one until a couple weeks ago another popped int my head while I was in the shower.

Another year has drawn to a close. Another decade, too. On January 1, 2009 I wrote in my journal: “2010. Wow. Seems so futuristic.” And here we are in 2020, even more futuristic-sounding.

But I don’t want to jump into 2020 without spending some time considering 2019 first.

With only two months (and a bit) of the year left, I find myself looking forward to next year while also looking back over 2019.

My word for 2019 has been GROW. In some ways I feel that I’ve fallen short with my intentions. I don’t know about you, but for me I can look at all I still want to do and forget about all I already have done. Last week I was looking back at my seven years of calendar making and remembering how far I’ve come in that time. In some ways I’d almost forgotten.

I’ve been feeling so inspired lately. My garden is providing me with abundant painting ideas, but more than that, it seems everywhere I look I see beauty and find encouragement from people who are living authentic, creative lives.

This week I painted bleeding hearts with the paint I mixed last week.

It’s lovely to be working with flowers from the garden again. But it’s also been a bit frustrating trying to get back into a groove of art-making and gardening and all the other stuff that life demands.

I came back from a trip to Seattle at 2 am on Wednesday morning and since then I’d been struggling to get back into the swing of things.

That is, until I realized that I could let go of the pressure to do, do, do and give myself time to rest and readjust.

Today is my birthday. I love birthdays. When I was a child my mom always made them so special. I guess I never let go of the joy of celebrating my day.

I’ve had a lot of thoughts swirling around in my head this week. I’m going to try untangling them here, though perhaps they might get messier in the process. I’d love for you to jump in with your thoughts, too.

Happy New Year!

I love this time of year. The feeling of being a bit out of time. The chance it gives for reflection and planning. It’s hopeful. Energizing. Anything feels possible at this time of year.

Reviewing a whole year is a hard thing. Once you sit down to do it you realize how slippery a year can be. How difficult to contain with words or even photos.

Happy Winter Solstice to you.

It’s the longest night of the year and the official beginning of winter (though around here it’s been feeling like winter for a few months now).

Lately I feel as if I’m always in a hurry. As if the days are hurtling by and I can barely keep up. I’ve been feeling like this for a while and I don’t like it. One of the reasons we moved out of the city was to live a slower life, but here I am rushing, again.