Looking towards 2017

It's that time of the year when like many of you I start to look forward to what next year might bring and how I can shape that, even if that's in the smallest way. For the last few years I've chosen a word for the year - last year it was shine, the year before focus and before that active and I've had mixed success with using them as a guide for the year. But as I still think I'm more likely to have success with a single word than a raft of New Year's Resolutions I'm sticking with this approach. 

I've learnt for a word to stand the most chance of being successful I have to love it and what it stands for.

So for 2017 the word I've chosen is flourish.  Not in the curlicue, decorative way or in the wave about kind of way, I mean in the grow and prosper meaning. Although I'm not sure I can commit to there not being any of the other meanings throughout the year!

I think it works as an all rounder for my home life, work life and blog life. I still want to get things done, and do them well but I also want to grow and prosper as much as I can too. At work that means continuing to shape my role in my new organisation, implement changes and generally make the job my own, and I think that's entirely do-able.

Here on the blog, I've realised over the past year that it's the gardens and gardening posts that I really enjoy and you seem to as well, so I want to grow those (sorry!) this year. For Christmas I received membership to the RHS and I'm looking forward to getting out and exploring all that has to offer. I still plan to write about homes and interiors and the projects underway in our own home but this year I'm also a RIBA Friends of Architecture member and I'm looking forward to making the most of that too.

In real life both MOH and I will be celebrating our fiftieth birthdays, and our tenth wedding anniversary this year so we hope to do that in style and I'm also hoping there'll be a holiday (or two) to celebrate along the way too. I'm off to Munich in January, and very much looking forward to that and sharing all of that here too.

Share your hopes and dreams for 2017

As I said at the start of this post, I'm probably not the only one thinking about what 2017 can bring, so if it's something you've been thinking about I'm keen to know what your hopes, dreams, goals, resolutions, aims or whatever you call them are. You don't have to be a blogger to take part in this, just leave a comment to let me know.

If you're a blogger I'd love to read your post, so add your link below - I'll leave this linky open until mid-January. And if you add the badge to your post and tweet me @Lifeat139a I'll share your post too.

1. Chickenruby - Solo travel, expat Life and family:

2. Ringing In The New Year - Boo & Maddie

3. Blog Goals 2016 - What I will do different in 2017

4. Happy New Year 2017

5. Words to Live By - Simplifying New Year Resolution

6. Beginning a year of simplicity – January

7. The Queen of Collage: What will ignite and excite

The collection has closed. Let other people know about it through twitter.

Let 2016 Shine!

A new year. A time when it's natural to think what that will bring and to pause and reflect on the year that's gone.  While I don't set resolutions - like many people I find they don't last - I do think about what I want from the new year and how I can help make that happen by choosing a word to guide me. 

Last year the word I chose was Focus; it was something I needed to do but even when I chose it I admitted it wasn't in the "make my heart sing" category and now I know I should have found a word that was.  Although I did focus - I am back at work and I have achieved lots throughout 2015 - I didn't actively embrace my word. It was there, reminding me, nagging me even of what I needed to do, but I pretty much ignored it whenever I could. I didn't reflect on my word throughout the year, even though I'd set myself a regular task on my to do list, and I didn't even feel guilty when I sneakily ticked it off the list without thinking too much more about it. 

So there was a lesson for me in 2015. If it doesn't feel right, then it probably isn't right. 

That said 2015 was a good year, but having my word didn't feel the way it had the year before when I chose Active.  

So this year I knew I needed to make a better choice. In my head I had "balance."  It worked in lots of clever ways: work-life balance, blog-life balance, work-home balance and also for pilates, which I haven't done so much of during the latter part of the year (and should have) and is something I always need more balance for than I naturally have. And cycling too, that needs balance.  See it was clever, it just didn't make me smile.  

And so I knew to keep looking for my word.

I'm not sure how or where I got the inspiration for my word, but I did. And if you've snuck a look at the image in this post you'll not be surprised to learn that this year I've chosen Shine.  Even typing it now makes me smile. 

So yes, this year my plan is to shine.

And to try and shine in everything I do.

AN ABBEY WINDOW IN SOUTH WEST FRANCE CAPTURED IN 2009

I realise that's quite a bold statement, but let me tell you more.

This year I want to build on the sewing machine mastery I rediscovered last year and focus on the quality of the items I sew, the zips I put in and in fact all of the crafts I set my sights on. I want to shine, not just do, if that makes sense.

I want to smile and share that shine with people I meet, those I know and those I don't. Smiling is good and it's a great way to improve other people's days and your own too. 

I want to get things done, but I want to do them well.  Whether that's at home, at work or here on my blog, this year I want to shine. That's particularly pertinent here on my blog as this week sees me take over co-hosting PoCoLo, an established and well loved bloggers link up.  

And of course there's the weather side of shine. I know I'm happiest in the sun, so I'm hoping we have plenty of sunshine this year; if it's in short supply then I'd be happy for it to be shining when we cycle in the Loire Valley (the dates of which are still to be determined), that's not too much to ask now, is it?

So now I have my word, I have it visualised in that stunning Abbey window shot which I captured on a walking holiday in the South West of France in 2009 and what's more, this year I even have a soundtrack. Helpfully Take That have obliged there.  It really is a Beautiful World.

So there's my intentions for 2016, what are yours?

Bring on a focussed 2015!

Last year was the first year I'd heard of let alone chosen a word for the year, and I chose active - it just felt like the right word for me, so that was that - it was my word. It worked well for me and so I was up for choosing another word for this year. Once again I had an inkling of what my word should be, but having discovered Susannah Conway during the summer's #Augustbreak Instagram challenge I was keen to work through her "Unravelling 2015" workbook. I wondered if my word would change at all - it didn't, but it almost did and I've spent some time talking myself into the word I first thought of! 

That word is Focus - it's a good word and it will help me this year I'm sure, but it didn't sound as exciting as some of the other words I considered. I also can't claim it's in the "make my heart sing" category but I'm pretty sure it's what I need as while balance, energise and direction are good, each of those are much more helpful if they're focussed.  

For me, Focus is about getting the things I need to done, alongside the things I want to do, it means flitting (slightly) less between projects but not necessarily having less projects to start with and of course, there's a camera angle too...

I definitely need to apply my word to my running as it's a bit sporadic right now, I don't think the weather's helping but, yes more focus here and some drier, warmer days would help too. Then there's my new bike that's arriving at the weekend (I hope) so I'll need some determination and focus to master the hills around here. I rather daftly and perhaps optimistically mooted the idea of a cycling holiday to MOH just after Christmas, so now we're considering that. Considering here means MOH is totally signed up for it, while I'm considering what on earth I've let myself in for! It does look beautiful though, if not a little exhausting, cycling up to 50km a day - but I said that before about walking 20+ kilometres before our first walking holiday, and I've managed a couple of those more than ok.  Even so, does anyone know what the hills are like in Bavaria?!

This year will also see me return to work and continue with my blog, so I'll need to strike the right balance there too. I'm hoping it'll also be the year where we can finally get rid of all the cardboard boxes, but not just yet as we'll still need a few while we get the spare bedoom decorated. We'll also get our very tiny porch sorted out so it'll only leave the conservatory needing work, which is going to take some serious planning and hopefully not so much serious cash. I'm also planning some sewing machine mastery, so watch out for that, oh and continue to improve my photography. I may even switch the camera onto manual. 

Holiday-wise I still hope to pack them in, in fact we're heading off to Dorset at the end of the month, hopefully the snow will stay away and we get cold, bright days and the village pub is warm and toasty! I've already mentioned the Bavarian cycle trip, there'll be some Norfolk trips too and more exploring around the UK and maybe even something further afield. I'm still working on that! 

And on top of all that I'm signing up to the intention to be kind to myself. Erm, yes - we should all be kinder to ourselves. 

So that's me, what have you got planned for this year?