Root

Many years ago I toyed with a photo project I called Root. It began in Glasgow, where I traveled instead of participating in my grad school graduation ceremony. The images were pictures of the ground, with isolated urban detritus: A couple of broken plastic forks on cracked macadam, heavily painted 3-dimensional yellow lines at the curb, cast off flyers for concerts parties lock-ins. The project never coalesced because, at the time, I couldn't convey through the images what Root meant to me. The images were lonely and desolate rather than nurturing and burgeoning with possibilities.

I'm not really sure what, if anything, that abandoned photo project has to do with my intention for 2018. But it's been on my mind since the word is the same.

Word for 2018 :: ROOT

• (re)Define and honor my personal core / spine, (re)surface the essentials
• Align inner (values) and outer (actions)
• Mine and mind my core / spine / essentials in my studio practice
• Put down roots in the regular sense of personalizing our home
• Expand outwards to invest (heart / mind involvement) in our neighborhood and community
• Dig in the dirt and plant seeds, food, beauty

Do you choose a word for the year or set a yearly intention? I've never used the resource, but the 5-day Find Your Word (free!) email course by Susannah Conway comes highly recommended from folks I trust. Susannah also offers a free Unravel Your Year workbook. She has expanded the 2018 version: "There are more prompts and pages in the current iteration of the workbook but the intention has always been the same: to mark the passing of the old year and the start of the new with mindfulness, honesty and gratitude." I'll admit, I find 62 blank pages a bit daunting, but do intend to dip into it.