A New Year
I love the new year. Not just when the ending year has been awful for nearly everyone. I have a routine of reflecting and planning – I often use the printable guide from Susannah Conway called Unravel the Year. It takes me a few days to finish it, but each year it is helpful in terms of processing what happened and figuring out the direction I need for the new year. I love the process of sitting down with my colorful pens and thinking and dreaming and writing it all down.
The new Unravel the Year Guide by Susannah Conway and some of my favorite pens.
Each year I choose a word to guide my year. In 2020 the word was “Rest”. It almost seems like I knew what was coming in 2020 when I look at that word now. I didn’t. I was a newly single parent returning to work outside of my home. I hadn’t really sat down in 10 years. Whenever kids were engaged without me, I rushed to fold laundry or chop some garlic to make dinner. I never rested. I am not great at rest, but having a year of thinking about it and prioritizing it has helped tremendously.
A sketch for my 2021 word of “Rise”.
For 2021 my word is “Rise”. I want to rise to the challenges Covid brings. I want to rise out of this quarantine life with a strong sense of myself and determination to do the work to make a better world – I don’t wish to return to the pre-Covid ways of the US. I want Boston and York to rise into a sustainable business. I want to help those around me rise – to see my privilege and find ways to bring my actions into alignment with my values.
Some background watercolor for my project.
Some coordinating variegated floss for the embroidery.
A quick sketch of the word in pencil.
To spend some time with this word I decided to stitch it using the lettering guide from last week’s blog post. I took an old white tablecloth and cut off a piece of it – painted it with watercolors and allowed it to dry overnight. Next, I wrote in the word “Rise” in pencil and then started stitching with some lovely, variegated floss. Whipped Back Stitch felt right and I must say I love the way it turned out – the variegation adding layers of color. It’s ready to hang up on the wall reminding me all year to rise up.
Some variegated Whipped Back Stitch with the watercolor background. A beautiful start to 2021.