January 2012 One Little Word Blog Hop

 

Welcome to the final ONE LITTLE WORD Blog Hop of 2011 and the 1st Blog Hop of 2012!!!

If this is your first time visiting my blog, welcome! Starting last February 1st a group of us students in Ali Edwards' ONE LITTLE WORD class at Big Picture Classes started a blog hop to share our assignments from the previous month. We found it so motivating that we continued our blog hop every month for the rest of the year.

 

SERENDIPITY 2011

I chose SERENDIPITY as my word for 2011. I loved the word and what it represented, accidental fortune. For me it represented a feeling of abundance and of the universe supporting my hard work. I wanted some good luck and magical results.

I think I expected too much out of my word and so I experienced a bit of a slump in the middle part of the year. But by the end, my word did give me some serendipitous moments and results. It just took me some time to realize it and notice these events were SERENDIPITOUS.

I am ready to say good-bye to SERENDIPITY. And welcome a brand new word for 2012. SERENDIPITY served me well, but I am wanting more from a word. I think a guiding word would better serve me.

This is a photo of the orphanage where I take photos. The volunteers are hard at work getting the new classroom all set up for the children. Before this, there was no school for the children who were not old enough or "appropriate" for public school as determined by the director of the orphanage.

 

REVEALING MY WORD FOR 2012

I started thinking about a new word in September or October because it was then I was feeling I wanted more from my word. I wanted a guiding word, a touchpoint.

Loving Kindness is a pair of words that spoke to me as well as productivity. Both are things I want more of in my life. I thought a lot about them both a lot at the latter part of the year. When it finally came time to make a decision, I asked myself which was a more important theme for me in the big picture of my life. And I decided if I were to die tomorrow, I would rather be known for loving kindness than I would for being productive. So, LOVING KINDESS are my words for this year. I plan on being very productive this year so that will be around too, but my pair of words is LOVING KINDNESS.

And the day I made that decision, I picked up a book (The Happiness Project) and read a paragraph that SERENDIPITOUSLY happened to be all about loving kindness. This sealed the decision for me! I would quote that for you but my book is in China and I am in California! So maybe, I will do that during the February 1st blog hop!

LOVING KINDNESS

The reason LOVING KINDNESS is so important to me this year is because I find myself changing. As many of you know, I live in Beijing CHina and have for the past three and a half years. The culture here is incredibly different than where I come from. People out in public, are not considerate in the way we define considerate. People don't open the door for you, they don't insist you go first, they don't stop and wait for you as you cross the street at a crosswalk. There is very much a survival mentality or a eat or be eaten mentality. Over time I have lost my positive attitude. Add to the fact that I now have a teenager with some attitude, and three children who are all adjusting to their third school in in three years as well as the fact that one must constantly fight or assert oneself to get quality or be ripped off, I have gradutally lost my positive attitude.

I want to reclaim that! I want to emit LOVING KINDNESS. I want to treat myself with LOVING KINDNESS. I want to treat my children (especially my teen) with LOVING KINDNESS at all times and treat my husband and marriage with LOVING KINDNESS. I think it will be an excellent pair of guiding words for me.

PRODUCTIVITY

This will be my underlying word in 2012. I plan to be very productive in 2012. Enough said!

 

I just saw the Optimist's Creed posted on my friend's Facebook status yesterday and I thought it would be an excellent tool for me to live my words, LOVING KINDNESS, in 2012.

The Optimist Creed

Promise Yourself ...
To be so strong that nothing can disturb your peace of mind.
To talk health, happiness and prosperity to every person you meet.
To make all your friends feel that there is something in them.
To look at the sunny side of everything and make your optimism come true.
To think only of the best, to work only for the best, and to expect only the best.
To be just as enthusiastic about the success of others as you are about your own.
To forget the mistakes of the past and press on to the greater achievements of the future.
To wear a cheerful countenance at all times and give every living creature you meet a smile.
To give so much time to the improvement of yourself that you have no time to criticize others.
To be too large for worry, too noble for anger, too strong for fear, and too happy to permit the presence of trouble.

REASON FOR THE OLW MONTHLY BLOG HOP & AN INVITATION TO JOIN US

The reason I started the blog hop was because I was afraid I would flake on the year-long class if I didn't have some accountability. The blog hop was the perfect solution and it really worked! I completed all but one assignment all thanks to the blog hop and its particpants. And the only assignment I didn't complete was for July 1st and that was because I had just received word my husband was critically ill in China! I did manage to go ahead with the blog hop, but I didn't share an assignment.

If you are a student in Ali's 2012 class at Big Picture Classes and want to join us for our blog hop on February 1st at 8 AM PST. Please send me an email (link in the right column of my blog) with FEB 1 OLW BLOG HOP in the subject line (I might miss it if you don't follow this step.) and include your email address and blog address in the body of your email message.

OTHER BLOG HAPPENINGS

I also host another monthly blog hop on the 5th of every month. It is called FAMILY x 12. A small group of us support each other in taking more family photos throughout the year. We post at least one family photo every month so we don't go through the entire year with only one taken around the holidays if we are lucky. If you would like to join us, please send me an email (link in the right column of my blog) with FAMILY x 12 BLOG HOP in the subject line and your email and blog address in the body of your message. To see all our past FAMILY x 12 BLOG HOPS, click here.

Please visit my blog every Tuesday in 2012 as I will be posting my daily photos for the week as well as my completed album pages for my Project Life album from the week before. Again, this is the way I plan to hold myself accountable for my memory keeping goals. To see all my Project Life posts from 2011, click here.

TIME FOR MORE ONE LITTLE WORD INSPIRATION...

Thanks for stopping by! I'm so glad you came. Please leave me a comment and let me know what you think. Now, it is time to continue on with the OLW blog hop. Cheri is next on the hop. The rest of the participants are listed below. If you should get lost along the way, please come back here to find your way. I encourage you to visit every blog as they will not disappoint. I find every blog post worth the read and always come away inspired.

EDITED on Jan 3, 2012: Just found out I have a really awesome BPC give-away coming up on MY BLOG! More details coming very soon...

 

Margie              http://xnomads.typepad.com  <--- You are HERE.

Cheri                http://cheriandrews.blogspot.com   <--- Go HERE next.

Veronica            www.veronicanorris.typepad.com

Kara                          http://iwannabemewhenigrowup.blogspot.com/

Rebekah            http://istampscrapcraft.blogspot.com/

Sharyn            http://www.LaVieEnChic.com

Jill                          http://jillconyers.com

Lynn                        http://www.crafty-creativity.blogspot.com

Monica            http://scrapinspired.com/

Lisa                        http://backtoallen.com/writers_blog

Cynthia H            http://paperpapereverywhere.blogspot.com

Lee                        http://thelinarstudio.typepad.com/embracelife/

Abbey                        http://athomewiththerichardsfamily.blogspot.com/

Monica B            www.questtoperfectimperfection.blogspot.com 

Nikki                        http://www.inkyart.com.au

Tere                        http://terecontodomicorazon.blogspot.com/

Melissa S            http://blog.mshanhun.com

Nicky                        http://seejanebake.blogspot.com

Stephanie              http://www.scrapworthylives.com/

Jenn L            www.studiojenn.blogspot.com

Cindy                        http://seriousplay.typepad.com

Amanda            http://scrappnbee.blogspot.com

Sam                  http://learncreatedo.wordpress.com/

Jan                        http://mysimplelittlelife.typepad.com

Jamie                        http://jmpgirl.blogspot.com

Karen                        http://breathenowsmile.blogspot.com/

Comments

[JennL]

i love your thoughts this month, margie! your feelings about serendipity and excitement for loving kindness ring through. i can't wait to see where 2012 takes you. as usual, thank you for the wonderful work organising the blog hop. xoxo jenn

[Stephanie Medley-Rath]

Big sigh of relief: I am on the list! I could not find your email with the list of participants so my original post did not have everyone. It is now updated to include the list. Thanks for organizing this hop and happy new year!

[Kristina]

Thanks, Margie, for sharing your thoughts! I didn't follow through with the blog hop, though I was in it for the first two or three months, but my word (path) has followed me through the year. I'm greeting 2012 with two words, also. My word is rhythm, and my underlying word is story, I think.
I hope you will have a good year with lots of loving kindness! I think I know what you mean with a different society. My parents lived in Xiamen from 2002-2006 and we visited them a few times. A lot of things are different for sure. China is a wonderful and fascinating country, but nothing about it is easy.

/Kristina (BPC screenname: Ciqi)

[MonicaB]

Margie, this is a wonderful post. It must be difficult living in a different culture and keeping it from effecting you in ways that you don't want. I love your new word and look forward to seeing where it take you. Thanks for keeping this blog hop going. Happy 2012!

[Janet Carr]

I just found your blog!! LOVE it!!! I am doing OLW 2012 and am so EXCITED!!! Thanks so much for sharing your inspiration!!!!

[Lee Currie]

Thank you so much for organizing the blog hop every month Margie, even when your word was not "working" for you as you may have liked. I am looking forward to following your journey with "Loving Kindness". Brilliant :) Happy New Year!

[Account Deleted]

Excited to be joining the OLW class this year - and looking forward to future blog hops! Here's my intro post for my 2012 word: http://katyat34.typepad.com/being_30something/2012/01/2012-one-little-word-shift.html

[Rose Brier Studio]

I came over here from the OLW site. What a great idea and how nice to do it so there is a whole month to get the assignments done. I like the way you have connected Loving Kindness and Productivity. I look forward to watching all year as they connect and support you in your goals. My word for 2012 is Abundance. And underlying that is to be more orderly in all aspects of my life (particularly in setting and meeting deadlines). Thanks again for hosting this blog hop. I look forward to joining you!
~Marilee

[Sam @ Learn. Create. Do.]

Lovely post Margie. I know what you mean about eat or be eaten in some cultures and I'm sure your Loving Kindness will shine through. I look forward to following your progress again this year.

Happy New Year!

[orange gearle]

I am excited to join OLW for the first time! I've shared my word on my blog if you are interested.

[Nicky]

Thank you so much for organizing this every month -even when your husband was ill. You are amazing! I am so excited to see how your words play out in 2012. Good Luck and Happy New Year.

[Jill Fickling-Conyers]

Loved reading about your farewell to serendipity and hello to loving kindness. Thank you for hosting another year [and keeping me on track!].

[Sharyn]

Margie, thanks so much for hosting the blog hop. You did well to hang in there through your slump - and I think your new words are sucha beautiful expression of who you are. Looking forward to sharing more of our words together in 2012.

[kelly ishmael]

hi margie! this is my first to participate in OWL - here is my blog entry {http://mindingmynest.com/2012/01/one-little-word-try/}. i look forward to being part of this group. thank you so much for organizing this! kelly

[Alison Day]

Thanks for sharing your thoughts and feelings about your words. I especially love the Optimist's Creed. If it's okay with you, I'd like to copy that into MY Facebook status!
My word last year was RELEASE and I found it both good and bad. It was a good touchstone for me when times were tough or the anger was high - I could just say "release it" and my body would slowly relax, my breathing would calm and the anger would slowly dissipate. But it was bad in that I found it difficult to follow some of Ali's prompts - especially the photographs - so my OLW album isn't as complete as I had hoped. I am okay with that... now. I realize that this is a journey and my OLW did its job for me last year. This year I wanted something more tangible, more measurable, and the word that eventually revealed itself to me is FOCUS. My life has had a distinct lack of focus lately and it has bothered me. I look forward to keeping FOCUS in mind all year and seeing how it unfolds.
I've written more than I planned! Sorry about that! Thanks again for your hops. I look forward to seeing what the rest of the participants have for us.
Happy 2012!!

[Cheri]

Great post Margie - lots to ponder and think about! I hope "loving kindness" helps keep you grounded in positivity this year. Thanks so much for all your work in organizing the hop all year and keeping track of all of us! You ROCK!

[Amanda (Scrappnbee)]

First, thanks so much for being the hostess with the mostest this year! I truely credit you and the 1st of the month deadline for homework for keeping me on task! I am glad that you and your serendipity have had a happy ending. I love your new words for 2012. It must be hard to raise a family in such a foreign invironment. I am sure that you are providing all the loving kindness they need! As a mom of a newly minted 13 yr old (Dec b-day), I think that the attitude is in the hormones and has nothing to do with your ability to project love! I look forward to hopping with you for 2012! -Amanda

[Nikki]

Well Margie that was a lovely post. Some very heartfelt thoughts - it becomes scary when we suddenly realise that our very beings are being lost because of our surroundings doesn't it. I am often told I should do this or say that but it has only been in the past couple of years that I have said no - I am who I am - and I can hear the strength in your words that tells me you are who you are too and you will continue to be so even if all around you the forces are wanting to you change and conform. I too have teenagers - two of them - nightmare! 16 year old girl is just coming through the terrible teen stage (I hope) and a boy who is 13 and right smack bang in the middle of it. I am told it gets easier - I could be grey before that happens but hey ho .... there's always a chilled glass of sav blanc in the fridge! Thanks for keeping me on the straight and narrow this year - couldn't have come this far without you. See you in February xxxx

[Nihao, Cupcake! by Margie]

Thanks, Nikki! What wonderful, encouraging words. Your reminder at the end was the best part & made me smile. Wish I could have you over sometime for a glass of wine. :) So glad you've joined us all through 2011 and look forward to a great 2012!

[Nihao, Cupcake! by Margie]

Thanks, Amanda! I hope you are right. :) So glad to have you join along all through 2011 and looking forward to more fun in 2012.

[Nihao, Cupcake! by Margie]

Thanks, Cheri. So glad to have you join us!

[Nihao, Cupcake! by Margie]

Hi Alison, feel free to use that as your FB status. I am not the author so I don't feel it is my place to allow you or not allow you to use it. But I have no problems at all if you want to "copy" my idea to share it. It is a wonderful thing to pass on and I love that it had meaning for you too. That's awesome. It sounds like you are like me and go what you needed from last year's word and are ready to move on to something new that will serve you in your next life chapter. Here's to FOCUS in 2012!

[Melissa]

In 2009 I had simplify and complete :) so having a couple of wards can work - I hope you gain what you are looking for this year!

[Nihao, Cupcake! by Margie]

Thank you for being an enthusiastic participant all year long! Looking forward to 2012 with you.

[Nihao, Cupcake! by Margie]

Thanks so much, Jenn. So glad you have been joining in through 2011. Looking forward to 2012!