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Happy New Year!!! Here is a photo of my family taken on Christmas Day! This one turned out pretty cute!I am sitting here in my craft room with TONS on my mind. Resolutions, you say? Bah-humbug! Aren't resolutions a waste? I think so! They set us up for failure and give us the self-inflicted guilt that I simply don't want lurking around the synapses of my mind! Thank you very much! OK, I'm not ranting, I promise!
The perfectionist in me says "NO WAY!" I am simply too busy with other things on my mind that need focusing. What are they?
Last year, I was searching for Peace in my life. I have surely found it - and I'm blessed for it. I am working on so many issues (no tissues, please) and with the help of many avenues, peace has been found - slowly, but surely. Living in truth, living by what my faith teaches me and giving my best is what I have been working on!
So, in 2010 my word of the year is JOY! Have you found this? Has JOY eluded you? I want to feel joy or happiness! I am talking about getting joy from your meaning and purpose and fulfillment in this life - I want this! I have been working on my sharing my heart, journal my feelings and give my time, talents & treasure to God, my family, friends and self, my faith grows. My joy has not increased though! Why am I not happy? Aren't joy and happiness the same? Let's check it out. Dictionary.com says the following:
hap⋅pi⋅ness –noun
1. the quality or state of being happy.
2. good fortune; pleasure; contentment; joy.
joy –noun
1. the emotion of great delight or happiness caused by something exceptionally good or satisfying; keen pleasure; elation: She felt the joy of seeing her son's success.
2. a source or cause of keen pleasure or delight; something or someone greatly valued or appreciated: Her prose style is a pure joy.
3. the expression or display of glad feeling; festive gaiety.
4. a state of happiness or felicity.
–verb (used without object)
5. to feel joy; be glad; rejoice.
–verb (used with object)
6. Obsolete. to gladden.
So, I guess from my own Dictionary lesson they are very close! I am working on Joy as my word of the New Year! I am working on going back to school - exploring some possible avenues that may bring fulfillment to me! That is a good thing! I am excited to share this with you as I search for my personal meaning and purpose. I will keep you posted as I start a new 2010 chapter: Seeking Joy!
I do know that my creativity is a good outlet for me no matter my mood or searchings! The last few weeks have been like getting out of the Holiday Haze. I need routine. Routine is GOOD! Now that the kids are back in school, I am creative and actively searching for JOY, here is a project I made with my kids in mind. It's called The Journal of Polizzi Ponderings! I like alliteration, can you tell? It's where I pose a question and pass the journal through the house and in my own kids handwriting they tell me things about a subject I develop.
The How-to: I put this together pretty easily! Here's what I did... I used a school ream of notebook paper wide lined. I usually keep a few of these on hand during the school year. I then have a stash of chipboard cardboard from the back of the graph paper my husband uses at work. I recycle TONS of these during my creativity moments. I covered the chipboard with the gold & black cardstock using pre-punched letters from an unknown source to spell out my "Polizzi Ponderings & Of" part. The word Journal was written by me using the Sharpie PosterPaint marker in opaque white, then with a fine tip Sharpie, gave shadows to the script. The using "Spring Dreams" stamp set from The Angel Company I added corners. Next came layering Marvy Uchida scalloped oval punches in black & white cardstock. Used scalloped scissors by Provo Craft to dress up those edges. Glued everything down with either Scotch double-sided tape or Glue Dots. Ran a length of B&W checked ribbon (Walmart, I think) down the black panel, and tied shippers twine though the front & back covers with the school notebook paper making a sandwich inside. Tip: make sure you leave some space when tie-ing your knots so you can turn pages easily. Pretty easy-peasy, huh?
Next, I created some "rules" for the notebook. Here's what is written on the inside front cover of our Journal:
1. You can write up to 3 paragraphs.
2. Stay on the front side of each sheet - markers can bleed.
3. Pencil only.
4. Only write in the Journal when it's your turn. (Ah, siblings)
5. It's NOT homework - just have fun!
6. Use your best handwriting.
7. Put it on Mommy's craft desk when you're done!
Back in November 2007, I posed a question to my daughter Gianna; "talk about a new activity you'd like to try and explain why..." After my husband and I got a huge kick out of her answers (all of them, truly are hilarious), I wrote back saying how I {{{loved}}} her ideas, etc. What a fun way to get your kids to journal! Do I even have to mention how fun it will be to scan them onto a huge projector and show their entire wedding party some of the crazy things they've said when they were little? I'm only a little nostalgic!!! :)
So, jump ahead to 2010! I did have to wipe off some dust since it's been forgotten for awhile... Here is what I did for today's Journal entry. I used a RAK Doodle from Stephanie Ackerman's Homegrown Hospitality blog {{{LOVE THIS BLOG}}} (click here) and printed it out for our family journal theme. I wanted to see how my kids are coming along with the "sharing feelings" area of their lives. I know at 12, 10, 10 and 6 they are just learning to articulate feelings, I want to show my kids how to share their feelings in a non-threatening way, but also, on paper it's less lecture-sounding, too. Yup, that 12 year old is almost a teenager!!! YIKES!
Cannot wait to see what they share with me about this topic. Thanks for stopping by... What do you think?"The unexamined life is not worth living.” - Socrates
