Another year’s rolled around (they do go fast, don’t they?!). I am a little late to the party this year, as I caught whooping cough in early December and only in the last couple of days have I felt well enough to actually do things.
There’s probably a whole other blog post in that – how when you don’t rest enough your body makes you rest…!
2019 so far feels positive and exciting, I’ve had some good news in the last 24 hours, and I’m super excited to work with more brilliant entrepreneurs in the coming months. It’s also the first year I’ve greeted as entirely my own boss, which is the result of almost a decade of dreaming, scheming and hard work – it’s a brilliant feeling.
So, a word of the year. Just to confuse things I always choose three – a main one, to guide all that I do, and then two supporting ones.
Last year’s was BELIEVE, with supporting words “embrace” and “create”, which actually ended up being rather apt. I embraced various situations & opportunities, believed in myself and created a life I am stupidly excited about.
But last year I also battled every creative’s unholy trinity – self doubt, imposter syndrome and comparison.
There is a post it note on my desk which says “Comparison is the thief of joy”. And it’s true – yet somehow it’s unavoidable. I had a complete break from the internet, including all social media, over Christmas, and I could feel my mental health and creativity improving on a daily basis.
The silly kittens and I also stayed with Mum for a fortnight, which meant pretty much zero need to look at my phone or my laptop. And despite being hideously ill, my creativity returned in spades. I hadn’t even noticed it waning, until I turned away from all the noise and really listened to myself.
It occurred to me, during this downtime, that I had been much more true to myself in the years before I worried about what the latest algorithm was doing and what the best way to stay visible was. (hint – it’s usually to post more and spend more time and energy and creativity and life on these screens which promise us the world and then make us feel inadequate.
It was in those years I discovered my love for entrepreneurship, and entrepreneurs – and also the deep joy in self portraiture and fantasy-tinged fine art photography. Those things which are at the core of who I am as a creative.
And so this year’s word is INTUITION, supported by “nourish” and “boundaries”.
A promise to myself, made quietly but firmly, that this year I will be guided by what I know, instinctively, to be true.
I will do my best not to be swayed by the industry, the gurus and the endless Shoulds of being a business owner. Or a single woman. Or anything really.
Instead I will pause, and I will listen to the instincts and intuition which are always there, I will nourish my soul and my body, set boundaries around my time and my creativity, and I will be my own north star.
What’s your word for the year?
