April's Word: Complete. How Did it Go?
Well...is anything ever really complete? (*sighs* started with a disclaimer...no-judgment zone)
As you may be aware, this year I opted out of New Year's Resolutions (okay, opted out again) and chose instead a try-and-see approach simply by choosing a word for each month, no pressure, and seeing what might happen.
April’s Word
April's word: complete. Well, it was going to be finish, but that sounded too much like a command and I hate being told what to do (even by me). Complete, on the other hand, is a gentler verb (as in "you complete me." Corniness aside, it's still kinda sweet). Complete can also be an adjective, with all sorts of warm fuzzies attached. (as in, my life is complete, a self-talk phrase I used a lot during my 16 single-parenting years.. Better than, um, my life is finished. You get the point. Word choice matters.)
Bottom line results for April: I did complete a few things (yay), but more often I just made some progress. And, as one of the Covid-era online webinars I took reminded me: Progress is a form of success. (Shout-out to Brandon Eastman's Be Better Industries).
Everything I did complete felt SO. DAMN. GOOD. Completion leaves open space.
Done: (work projects with deadlines don't really count, as we're usually motivated for those)
Love my Sis – Color Adds to Doodles
Completed (or skimmed and donated, truth be told) some books still left piled inmy reading spot from January's word: Open.
Completed three of the masterclasses I'd started (Steve Martin on Comedy, Ron Finley on Gardening; Nancy Cartwright on Voice Acting)
Fixed the stuff in the mending pile
2nd vaccine shot received!
Progress: (projects that had been getting pushed aside more each day):
Voice education started in January (warm-ups and reading)
2 doodling classes (March's word: Visual Art)
The happiness class I'd started (online) - hey, made it to end of week 2 (am I the only one here who starts a class and lets it slide?...show of hands, please)
So - if I were to grade the power of this word for me I'd give it a B+ - allowing for just being human. Might try that word again. Everything I did complete felt SO. DAMN. GOOD. Completion leaves open space.
Note: I noticed that I never completed blogging about my words for February or March. So there's that.
Briefly:
February's word was: Write.
Results:
nearly 10,000 words written for first draft of my book (same title as this website).
started blogging again for my mental illness advocacy website, Ben Behind His Voices.
noticed my obstacles and did some clearing: e.g. setting up my office365 site so I can write away from home (for when, fingers crossed, we get to go actually linger somewhere and write.)
March's word was: Art. Specifically, visual art. The bar was set low: doodles courses online, daily (ish) practice, and sitting with my Pe-K granddaughters to create art with them.
Results/observations:
I have no desire to be "an artist" - but I did get better. And I've begun to notice more visual things - like shapes, colors, shadows. Plus, I can draw "cartoons" and the grandkids like to make copies and color them.
more confidence in my ability to draw - less judgment
more awareness/fun with colors
I feel more visually creative and bold
possibility that I might illustrate my own book - we'll see
creating art is relaxing -more time spent in a mindful creation - also it's fun.
And, hey - I'm caught up with the "word reports"! Something else completed- for now. Bonus!
May's word: RISK. The experiment continues. What's your word for the month?
