Create.
That is my word for this year: 2017.
It's a new thing for me, to choose a word, a theme, for the year. I've never been much of a resolutions girl or even a writing-down-my-goals girl. Resolutions have always seemed a little, I don't know, forced? overly hopeful? just plain cheesy? to me.
But a word? A word I can do.
For Christmas, Tyson gifted me "The Year of Creativity", put on by the ladies of the Coffee + Crumbs blog. It's essentially a year long class, prompting (or maybe at times forcing) the act of writing and cultivating creativity. He knew I wanted to participate, but that it was something I would never gift myself. (Shout-out to the hubby: you're a keeper!) This gift, this year of creativity, is what inspired my word this year, and to even bother to choose one in the first place.
Create.
And I mean create in the fullest sense of the word - to create with my writing, certainly - but also in other ways as well. To create areas of my home that are cozy and inviting and welcoming, areas that have been somewhat neglected since the chaos of moving and then Tyson being gone and surviving our year of #threeunderthree. To create food, good food. I mean, I love me some food. And I love the making of food. The entire baking and cooking process is so interesting and therapeutic and, yes, creative, for me. And to create a peaceful, not frantic, schedule for our family so we can soak up these "little" years.
This isn't a post with a pretty picture. I don't have such free reign to create during the "pretty" hours - the sunlight streaming in and a clear, well-rested head with a mason jar of fresh-cut flowers nearby and everything arranged just "so". That's not how this stage of life works right now.
Much of this creativity is happening in the after-hours, the fringe hours of my day. It's dark, shadowy even. Blurry. It doesn't photograph well. But this is where my creativity is happening. This is where you will find me for much of this coming year.
Kitchen table. Dark. Tea. Or maybe a glass of wine. Pen. Journal. On a good day something sweet will be nearby. Quiet, above all else.
Tonight, I've actually created several things. I've created a clean home (i.e picked up 1029 toys). I even created perfect scenes in the twins' dollhouse as I re-arranged the jumble of furniture for the night (#interiordesigner4life). I finished creating invitations for the kids' birthday party and sent them off to the printer. And now I've created this.
The year of creativity has begun.