One Word.

Ali Edwards is huge in the scrapbooking world for those of you not familiar with the name. I have been following her blog for quite a while and get her newsletters as well. I just love her.

I'm not sure how long she has been doing it, but she chooses a word for the year. Here is a link explaining more about it. Basically you choose a word that sums up what you want for the next year.

I didn't do this last year, and I wasn't sure about doing it this year either, but it keeps getting brought up in my mind. Something is nagging at me to do this, so I'm going to.

I've spent a lot of time pursuing Ali's past blog entries and newsletters trying to think up a word. If your having a hard time, she has some lists on her blog of words people have chosen. I went through and thought of close to a dozen words that seemed to fit. One word kept coming back at me. Almost haunting me. I feel like the word chose me, rather than me choosing the word, since I can't seem to get it out of my mind.

cultivate

Yes, it's not your typical word that you would chose to define your year by. But I have come to the realization that I'm not your typical woman anyway. It seems to fit.

{Definition adapted from www.thefreedictionary.com}
cul·ti·vate
To improve and prepare
To grow or tend
To nurture; foster
To form and refine
To seek the acquaintance or goodwill of; make friends with.

This word fits me. It so fits me and where I want to go in the next year.

I challenge you to find your One Word. To journal it for the next year. To find inspiration in your word. To look for your word.

Ali has some great ideas on her blog for this. Check it out. It's linked in the very first occurrence of her name here.