Reclaiming Myself 2015

Happy New Year!!!

It's just past noon on New Year's Day 2015.  It's a fresh and clean year with no heartaches etched on it yet.  No mess ups.  No embarrassments.  Nothing to mar its pure loveliness.  This is my favorite day of the year.  Last year wasn't so bad either, really.  It held the normal kind of things that scratch and dent a year and make it look like it needs to be in the clearance bin at TJ Maxx.  But that's totally normal wear and tear and will not get you much of a mark down in terms of used years.  The last few weeks of last year held the usual mess of prepping for Christmas that always gets me conflicted. I actually wrote a blog post about it that was pretty good, but that I forgot to post. Ha!  I just posted it so I can at least link to it here.

As I sit and ponder all the new year might hold, I'm setting a goal in the form of one little word.  I've chosen a word of the year for 3 years.  I wrote about peace, grow and thanks in years past. This year, the word "reclaim" jumped out to me and immediately became my word of the year.  All that running around that happens at the end of every year had me craving a slow down.  I've been in the habit of trying to create simplicity in my life by adding stuff to it.  I wanted a more creative, simple life than my real job affords, so I started an art business.  Then I started another business in my website Creative Clearinghouse.  After that, I became a distributor for Young Living Essential Oils . Then with some friends, I started a group blog for creative projects called Cre8ive Klatch where we share fun, fast, creative projects.  All this all while craving, pining away for simplicity.  It's not really working and it doesn't make sense. 

So this year I'm asking the good Lord to help me reclaim myself. I'm not sure what that will mean, but I'm ready.  I was a girl who loved to read long books, write long letters and take long walks in the pasture.  I want to meet that girl again.  I want to reclaim my health with better food and exercise and the sense of peace that comes from being a little more organized and less frantic in the mornings. I want to reclaim some focus that my nearly middle-aged brain seems to avoid.  I want to reclaim some of the time that gets lost in the blue lights of digital screens stared at for too long.

Reclamation will take several forms and will be assisted by some great tools I'll share on this blog and the Cre8ive Klatch blog.  I'm so excited for what this year holds, even the sharp corners and hard knocks that will undoubtedly make 2015 limp toward the finish line come December. 

Do you choose a word of the year? Or do you make old school resolutions?  Or maybe you do some combination?  I'd love to hear from you.  What's your plan for 2015?

PS.  Found this quote after I posted this.  I'm adding it because it really speaks to me and my "reclaim" choice:   

 “Inch by inch I conquered the inner terrain I was born with. Bit by bit I reclaimed the swamp in which I'd languished. I gave birth to my infinite being, but I had to wrench myself out of me with forceps.”  ― Fernando Pessoa