31. My Word for 2023 – December Reflections 2022

Well, these last few days have escaped my attention here and that is all fine by me. I’ve been off this week and with Forest and Chris was out of town for work, so Forest and I have been doing various activities together and cleaning up after the holidays a bit. My parents came down (and are currently here) so my focus has been elsewhere and not on writing here. But I figured I should at least wrap up on this last day of 2022 and finish out this reflection challenge.

I haven’t done a word for a few years now. I found that much like resolutions I would focus on them for a few months and then forget the word entirely by the end of the year. There may have been a year or two that the word worked but I finally let that go. Instead I enjoy writing things I want to do or accomplish that are actually feasible and do them. But, lemme recap some blog posts with words from the past, first.

+2010: Adventure – which was a bit pointed because we were planning on hiking the Appalachian Trail but hadn’t let everyone know quite yet in early January!
+2011: Possible
+2012: Prolific
+2013: Action
+I don’t think I chose one in 2014, but it would have been called Baby. hahah
+2015: Mindful
+2017: Peace
+2018: Strong

If I was going to do a word this year it would be “Writing” or “Create” because I have some big writing plans this year. A few months ago I started dabbling in flash and micro fiction and submitting to various online and print publications. So far I’ve only had one 100-word story accepted and it will be out in January. I’ll share that when it is published. I’m still trolling around to find a home for a 770 word story I wrote—have had lots of rejections but that is par for the course with this type of thing from what I gather. It’s been interesting to read about literary journals and get into that world…even the best writers who’ve had plenty published get rejections constantly. Plus, I’ve reopened up my Florida Trail book proposal and realized it isn’t total crap (I’ve been afraid of reopening it for years because of this worry) and some tweaking with updates and new information will be all it takes to get it into form to start submitting once again. I’ve started editing the book again just to fine tune and want to finish that up by late February. Then I want to finish my fiction book I started for Nanowrimo back in 2021. Plus I started another non-fiction book last year that I didn’t see through but I can easily pick up this year to finish with some diligent once a week writing dedication. It’s basically the year to finish and wrap up some of these projects so they aren’t lingering in my mind.

On the art front I would really like to get back into my studio and doing acrylic paintings again. After being able to spend time in there during 2020 because we were home all of the time, 2021 and 2022 really plummeted on my time spent in there. I switched to doing smaller sketchbook and watercolors at my desk inside the house which allows me to do things in short bursts when I find the time. I’ll keep that up and want to develop an actual sketchbook habit alongside keeping up with my weekly nature journal. All of this just requires me to sit down and do it when I think of it instead of shuttling off like a squirrel to the next task that needs to be completed (and also less evening tv watching!).

After a lackluster year of reading—oh, I read a lot of titles but very few were grab-my-attention worthy—I want to have a more intentional reading year and read more fiction as well.

So, there is no specific word this coming year but plenty of goals I want to work towards. Goals…there are always goals!

I hope your 2022 was wonderful and I’ll see y’all in 2023!