One Little Word

Have decided to forego the traditional new year’s resolution list this year. Looking back over previous years, it seems to be that my resolutions can typically be divided into two camps: the ones I really want to do, and the ones that could be prefixed by the phrase “I really should...”. The ones I want to do I do anyway, and the ones I ‘should’ do usually fall by the wayside (or are actively jettisoned) by about mid-February.

So, I’m going to try out Ali Edwards’ concept, “One Little Word”. For any of you unfamiliar with this, it just means picking one word that sums up what you want to focus on for that year.

My word for 2012 is “SEE”. Decided on that after a passage in a book I was reading late last year jumped out at me:

“It takes close attention to see what is happening in front of you. It takes work, pious effort, to see what you are looking at. He was mesmerised by this, the depths that were possible in the slowing of motion, the things to see, the depths of things so easy to miss in the shallow habit of seeing.”

                                                                              Don De Lillo, Point Omega

It was the last phrase that did it: “the shallow habit of seeing.” It struck me that I do tend to live through a day without often stopping to really see what going on around me. It’s surface-level living, I suppose. When you stop to think about it, life’s full of wonderful, surprising, transient moments, and opportunities to play, appreciate, or connect with people (especially family); I want this to be the year that I start to notice – and act on - them more.

Made this the focus of the first layout of the year. This isn’t for any album, this is to go on the wall as a reminder for me through out the year. Here ‘tis:

I wanted a really striking visual image to go with the word, and this one (which started out life as playing with aperture settings) seemed to fit the bill nicely. I deliberately kept the whole thing very simple, just words + photo, since it’s meant to trigger reflection. Plus, to me anyway, the image is embellishment enough. Actually, as I started to jot down ideas that the word “see” inspired , I was amazed by how much is in it – this could be my One Little Word for the rest of the decade…

Good start to the year. Am going to try and follow Al Hannah's example and finish a layout a week, so so far, so good! (That's not a New Year's Resolution, by the way, that's an intention...Besides, it's a "want to do", not a "should do", so it doesn't count. ;) )