Every year for the last three years I've selected a word for the New Year. I do this, largely, in lieu of New Year's resolutions which seem a little too absolute for me to follow up on with success.
Some people create or follow a thorough process to discover this for themselves. They ask a lot of important questions, dig a little deeper, and land on something that will really serve them throughout the coming year.
For me it is much more intuitive and gut centered process. I think about where I'm at, what I want, and what word might remind and guide me to do the work I need to accomplish something special, important, or worthy. Somehow it just lands and sits and stays with me.
Two years ago the word was 'Muse'.
Last year the word was 'Shine'.
This year the word is 'Move'.
I struggled a little bit with it because it's kind of mundane. It doesn't have a shiny edge to it or bright marquis lights that make it glow in the dark. Although doing a drawing of the word certainly made it feel a little brighter.
In fact, though, it's a really practical, put-your-muck-boots-on-and-get-going kind of word.
Which is exactly what I need this year. I have some real work to do and decisions to make so I can move forward on a bunch of stuff in my life world.
I think this is what happens to lots of people in their mid-forties, at least in our country. We kind of hit a ceiling or an end point, or something that makes us want to shift. And it requires work of many sorts that I must move through if I'm going to feel good about things into the future. Otherwise I'll probably keep feeling stuck which isn't a great feeling.
I want to move my body more too. I want to be able to run, jump, climb, push up, pull up, be strong, be focused, and use movement to stay centered.
As for the artwork - I want to move it in new directions, move it through different showing spaces, and move as in 'sell' my work in new and successful ways as well.
2015 was particularly encouraging on the art sales front and I'm excited to explore it further and push it forward.
And last but not least, I'm officially moving this blog to a Square Space platform! I'm feeling highly encouraged by this move in particular as I think it will be a platform that is easier for me to use, more fun for everyone to look at, and will facilitate growth of my artistic and graphic endeavors in new and exciting ways.
Soon the orangesweaterdesign URL will shift to that site, but for now you can take a preview gander right here: https://emily-proudfoot-walc.squarespace.com/
If you click the blog link, you'll be able to see a new post there and then feel free to surf around on some of the other pages as well. The site is still in a bit of a fledgling state, but I think you'll really like it a lot. I'm particularly in love with the look and feel of the site on mobile devices - it's really simple and very elegant.
Thank you all so much for your support and kind words over the years and I hope I'll be writing and posting much more often as I move into what I know what will be a stellar 2016.
Cheers!
~Emily
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