Word of the Year

Resolution Season

The New Year has been upon us for a couple of weeks now. Some folks call it “resolution season” due to all the folks who make New Year’s resolutions every year. Even though so many of us fail with achieving these resolutions we set, each and every year, like a bad habit, we make a new one.

 

In 2020, I didn’t have a resolution. I deliberately avoided setting one. It just felt like too much pressure, considering the state of the world. And with all the extra time on my hands and no place to go due to COVID protocols, I realized that I had the opportunity to re-focus on my quilty creativeness. I’d never followed a quiltalong before and thought it would be a good way to build in some deadlines, so I started researching. I found a quilter by the name of Pat Sloan, who offers several free quiltalongs and a very active Facebook group. I signed up and started following along. 

 

Fast forward to the 2021 New Year, and Pat started talking about a word of the year. She (and a lot of other people) don’t really set resolutions. Instead, they use a word of the year to focus their efforts and attention.  My word last year was “health”, which I only loosely followed. It did help a bit here and there to give me a place to focus, and encouraged me to start making changes that would support both my mental and physical health.

 

But what about this year?

“You don’t have to be extreme, just be consistent.”

Unknown

Looking Back & Moving Forward

Those who know me know that I do best when I have a schedule, deadlines, and goals to reach. Spur of the moment plans and outings often throw me for a loop because they’re contrary to what I thought I’d be doing. If it happens too often, it can be hard to switch gears and then switch back. And that’s some of what was happening in 2021, at work, with travel, home renovations, and the reopening of the world.

 

Throughout 2021, though, I was able to maintain my routine, goals, and deadlines for my quilting projects. Some of that is due to my love for the craft, and my ability to easily work it into my day – even when plans changed. When I traveled I just watched videos on YouTube or went shopping. But the quilting was there, consistently. Since I was consistently inconsistent with pretty much everything else in my life, I thought that I should make moves to bring this regularity to the rest of my life.

 

“It’s not what we do once in awhile that shapes our lives. It’s what we do consistently.”

Anthony Robbins

Consistency is Key

So, my word this year: Consistent. 

That’s all I have to do. Be consistent. 

 

Now, this is definitely not a goal, per se. There’s no measurability to it. There’s no deadline. It’s just an action and a value.  All I can do is my best with this. So that’s what I’ll do. To help me along, I made a planner that lives in a giant-ass binder. It includes a monthly calendar, a weekly spread, a workout tracker, a habit tracker, a quilt project tracker… more will be added as I make the components.

 

So tell me, Average Quilters: do you make resolutions? If so, what’s your 2022 resolution? If not, are you a Word of the Year type of person? What’s your word?

 

Take care – and I’ll see you next time!