Let’s start with a haiku then.
I dived into my book case and I found a nice “Holiday Haiku” for you!

I submit this last-haiku-of-the-year to Haiku my Heart Friday and to all
my wonderful friends in the Haiku circle: may your holidays be filled with
light, joy and laughter!

I promised you I would tell you about my ‘One Little Word’ and let me start by telling you about the word that accompanied me in 2012. I always make the first page in my ‘Chronicles’ about the word I chose for the year, and last year that word was ‘Core’.

I never showed you the page I made at the beginning of 2012 because I thought it might find its way into FEATURING – but it didn’t, so I can now show you the page. Here’s also the article I wrote.

One Little Word: CORE

A few years ago, Ali Edwards began a tradition of choosing one word for herself each beginning of a New Year. She inspired a lot of people who follow that ‘One Little Word’ tradition. The idea is to choose one word that sums up what you want for yourself in the New Year. A word that you can focus on, mediate on, and reflect upon in your daily life. This is the story of my word for 2012.

The one little word that I choose to guide me this year is ‘Core’. It is a powerful word that should help me with all the changes and new endeavors that I am facing this year. In stormy times, it will help me stay focused and prevent feeling overwhelmed by too many commitments. I trust that my deepest core, my being, will always know what is good for me. I just have to make time to reflect and listen to it.

On this page, I glued multiple pictures that make up my inner being. The images on the bottom layer are not always visible anymore because of the paint. The layer consists of a picture of waves, which refers to the sea and how everything comes and goes and flows. The image of the woman, a sticker with the reproduction of a painting by Modigliani, symbolize the nudity and open-mindedness in my hidden ‘being’. An image of the painting ‘ Motherhood ‘ is no longer recognizable under the layers of paint. It is painted over on purpose and the image depicts that, despite the fact that my son moved out last year, motherhood is a big and important part of me. Of course, this artwork could not do without words – after all I am a writer! That part of me is symbolized by a shred of paper torn from a dictionary. An image of brains reminds me of the fact that I must remain attentive and studious. The Moon is a reference to the female and mystical element in myself and the heart symbolizes the love that surrounds me. Furthermore, I added a picture of my constellation, Libra. It points out to me how I must keep on ‘weighing’ mine and others’ words and actions fairly. In particular, I must stay fair and honest to myself; what may be the hardest. Finally, a number of stamps represent the contact with the outside world.  Whether it is through my blog and the Internet or in real life, contact with other people is important. This art journal page represents my being with which I confidently face a new year.

It turned out CORE was a well chosen word – I needed it quite often during the past year. As you all know, I started a new adventure (FEATURING magazine) that required getting a lot of new things done, decisions to make, people to write and so on… I held on to this word and my CORE every time I was in doubt and was glad that I choose this word in 2012 – it helped me through the year!

The word for 2013 came to me last Month. I did not even have to think much about it… it seemed such a logical word that I embraced it right away: PERSEVERE (in Dutch: doorzetten, volhouden)

The two words, CORE and PERSEVERE, came together the other day, when there were trouble with the last issue of FEATURING (see this post) and it felt like the ‘old word’ made place for the ‘new word’, strengthening me that I again choose a good word to accompany me in the next year. I will record the word on the first page of my new Chronicles journal soon.

And this was it, my friends. My last post in 2012.
I am looking forward to next Tuesday, when the Top 2000 festivities start on my blog. There will be music all around and an every day post with art, inspired by the music. The submissions are starting to come in already and I myself have finished the first ‘top 2000 pages’ . The radio will be playing 24/7 on my blog as of Christmas Day (noon) and  I hope you will stop by next week to say HI and admire everyone’s work.

I wish you a nice weekend and happy holidays!
Be nice to each other!

Then, in this post, I would show you the page and explain why
I choose this word.
I would tell you that I will try to live my life with respect for
my inner core.
I would have explained that my goal is to seek inside, going to
the very core of myself,
to see if the things I do and the choices I make are true and
honest to the deepest of me.

However…

This week I came across Scrapping the Music.
Seeing the new challenge that was up there, I couldn’t resist.
I wanted to make a layout in my ‘Album Cover Art Journal’.

Although I wasn’t really aware of it – that was my first test.
I listened to my deepest me.
I went to the core and I decided to go for the music.
Go for creating the page that I really wanted to make.

It left me no time to make my ‘core’ page,
but it showed me how good it feels to be aware of that deepest feeling.
My core.

‘Awareness’ was my word for 2011.
See how it all comes together?

I think CORE is the perfect word for me, for 2012.
I know that already ’cause the ‘planned’ blogpost is here too.
In another way than I thought I would write it.
Maybe even better!

I’ll show you the core page after I’ve made it.
Sometime next week.
Today, I show you the other stuff.

..

Last Friday I didn’t participate in ‘Haiku my Heart’ – because of the ‘crew’
(ahem, 2 people) of the Dutch television that came to film me that day about
the top 2000 blogparty that was going on on my blog…
(see the little movie they made of me here on youtube)

so;

Hi my Haiku friends!
I’m back!
Happy New Year to you!

Do you love haiku?
Rebecca started hosting Haiku my heart Friday in 2010.
I discovered her ‘haiku circle’ last May and am addicted ever since.
I will continue writing a haiku once a week and publish it each Friday.
For more haiku and photos, visit the haiku-post on Recuaerda mi Corazon.

I bet you’re curious to see what I did instead of making a ‘core’ page.

After a months long break, my friend Michelle is back at Scrapping the Music.
She and the team re-arranged the challenge blog – gave it a new look and
blew new life into it. The first challenge of the year is to create something,
anything inspired by the song ‘Piece of My Heart’ (by Janis Joplin)

Besides the STM challenge, Three Muses came with a prompt to use
song lyrics in your artwork… so this piece goes in there too!

Aaah, ‘good ol’ Janis’ … How could I resist?
Here’s the page I made in my ‘Album Cover Art Journal’

Size: approximately 30 x 30 cm – 12 x 12 inch

I’ve always loved this photo of her on that bike.
This picture is on the cover of a ‘greatest hits’ album.
In the Netherlands, we would call it ‘stoer’ (tough?!) and that’s exactly
the line from the lyrics I choose to work with.

I’m gonna show you, baby
that a woman can be tough

How’s that for my first artistic work in 2012?!

Before I go and step into the weekend – here’s one last thing for the people
who don’t know already.

In the first issue of FEATURING magazine we’ll be covering the topic
of Etsy shops and we’d like to hear your opinions on the subject through
our Etsy survey.

We’d like a wide variety of responses.
Whether or not you run an Etsy shop of your own and whether or not
you’ve ever shopped in one, all views are equally welcome.

I would be very grateful if you would be so kind to answer our questions!
The survey should only take 5 – 10 minutes to complete.

Click here to go to the survey.

Enjoy your weekend dear ones!
Take time to listen to your core!

The first year I started with this OLW tradition (2010) I choose the word
SMILE, because my life was in a dip and I was rapidly heading towards
becoming a grumpy lady. The word stayed with me all year and made me
focus on the good things in life. Even my artwork became brighter and more
colourful.

For 2011 my word was AWARENESS
(read my considerations and reasons why in this blogpost)

..

The word AWARENESS has been on my mind a lot lately. Although it was
there all year long in the back of my head, last months I seemed to really
NEEDED it! I faced some major changes, both in my personal life (my son
moving out) as well as business-wise (teaching a live workshop, starting up
FEATURING – my own magazine) This word kept me sharp. I often said it
to myself: ‘are you truly aware?’ It helped me look further, taking into account
everyone’s emotions, showed alternative ways to go and possibilities and
made me alert to oversee the consequences of different approaches.
Wow, it’s a powerful word!

Last week, out of the blue, my new word for next year arose.
It’s early, I know, it’s not even December yet! It probably has to do with
my new goals for next year.

The due date for the FEATURING team submissions was last week and I had
to make choices. Which people fit the team? It’s never easy to make a choice
and that’s when this word popped up: CORE.

I have to stay close to my core. My wishes, my dreams – what I want this
magazine to be – are the most important thing and I choose people for the
team who I truly feel are capable of helping with that. Reading their resume
and the test-article they wrote, it felt like they had the same vision and view.
My feelings were confirmed by Annemarie, who agreed months ago to be my
text editor and is helping me with the magazine ever since. Annemarie had
chosen the exact same names and had the same ideas about the content of
all the submissions we got! AWARENESS and CORE worked together on this!

Oh, and don’t worry… the new members are informed and the names will soon
be announced on the FEATURING website…

That’s a lot of text I wrote there… hm, time for a picture then.
(yes, there’s only one page to show this time)

The Chronicles of Marit – Week 46

(23 x 31 cm - 9.1 x 12.2 inch)

I know, I know, there’s a lot of blurred text. I had a lot to reflect on and
spit out on the page last week, and I rather keep it private. But you can
see the overall ‘feel’ of the page, right?

And that’s it for today dear ones.
I wish you all a nice week.
Be AWARE and guard your CORE!