three new words

Holy Socks!

Kathee came by the shop on Tuesday to show me all the new words she has recorded in her dictionary and to give me a little kick in the pants!  I have been doing a little doodling here and there but not nearly as consistently as I should...kick taken!

 

I will get all her beautiful words up in a day or two but in the meantime I thought I would share some of the little doodles I have been doing.

 

Pluviophile: one who loves rain!

It has been wet here this month, thank goodness, so this word was perfect!

Cheep: the sound a chick makes...hence...chick chat!

Chalk Art:  love!  I love the black and white of chalk art...just makes me happy

believe: a list (not complete but important) of what I believe

The Beatles: not in the dictionary so I added a page...the music of my generation

abecedarian: a person learning the alphabet 

bel-esprit: beautiful spirit

love

heart

January: first month of our dictionary challenge

February: 2nd month of the year!

 

Okay that is a little of what I have done this month...what have you been up to?

Please share!

always,

michele

  p.s.
here a few more I neglected to put online

 

 

gone so long

I am so sorry I have been absent so long...first came our California trip and then came the flu from heck!  I worked through the first week of this awful stuff and now on week two I feel like poo.  I have found that the worse part is that I have a hard time seeing to type when my eyes are watering like a flood!  Enough of my woes and on to more fun stuff...

 

Kathee Clark came by the shop with her old dictionary and I got to take photos for the blog and facebook.  WoW!  She is so organized and her work is wonderful...First off I want to tell you about her organizational skills....

 

She has a little pocket calendar she keeps with her and each day she writes in the calendar what word she worked on for that day.  CRIKEYS!  I not only do not have a pocket calendar, even if I did I would have lost it by now!

Then in her Dictionary she dates each word! Who would have thought!

 

So for your enjoyment I am featuring Kathee's work.  Enjoy!

 

 

 

 

rise

 

I took a much needed day off from blogging and even from my word of the day challenge.  I was feeling so tired I couldn't even pick up a pen.

That said today is another day!

I had wonderful visits from two of our girlfriends who are participating in the 1 little word challenge.

 

Both Kathy Clark and Abbie Campbell both stopped by and both are creating amazing things in this challenge. 

 

 Kathy is doing amazing things with her beautifully worn dictionary!  I love her words, I love her art and I love her!  Kathy is far more organized than I am and she is doing some great stuff and keeping track of which word she does on which day in her pocket calendar...I am so impressed and you can bet I will be dating my words from here on.

 

Abbie is my fragile, funny, lovely friend who never leaves me without leaving a part of herself behind.  Just listening to her story and her challenges was heart wrenching but the most perfect part is that she won't allow those things to stop her and her wide open heart is filled with great joy and love..  She willingly shares that love and always leaves me feeling so much better.

 

If the only thing I ever got from this challenge is that I am connecting with friends old and new it is the best thing that could ever happen.  It is so humbling to me to be part of this adventure.  I am humbled by the amazing women and girls sharing the journey .

 

Today I chose the word rise.

I choose to rise above my challenges like Abbie does every day.

I choose happy like my friend Heidi Swapp

I choose to be organized like Kathy.

I choose to reclaim my life like Lisa.

 

I am rising...I will fly....I will choose to soar!

 

Challenge:

find the qualities you want to incorporate into your life and let them become your words

 

Promise:

you will change lives with your efforts to rise.

 

Please welcome Diane Bye and our youngest artist Anna!  I am so happy you are joining us!  If you haven't joined the facebook group 1 little word please do....That is where I get to see all your beautiful work.

one little word

 

always,

michele

sundays off....

 

When I began this journey I did it with a couple of absolutes...the first one was that I would take Sundays off.  I have made a commitment to myself to become consistent in my church attendance.  For me that means I will not be working on Sunday and that I will be keeping the Sabbath holy.

What I found on this the first Sunday of 2014 is that this challenge is not work.  It is much more.  It is a journal for me, it is a time to reflect.  It can be a welcome respite from my responsibilities.  So today I chose the word draw...I find that I am drawing from the best places in my challenge.  In coming days I will be adding quotes from good books, from Pinterest, from the messages in church and from my own journals.

I am still trying not to blog on Sunday but that is to keep this my day of rest...my day to read and study and reflect.

 

So I drew some little framed thoughts today.

I like frames...they are just waiting to be filled and I like filling them.

 

I also love to doodle and today I felt like filling a frame with flowers and then a little reminder to me to do all things with love.

 

 

I finished off the frames with two quotes... just words that mean something to me.

 

Challenge:

Take a little time away from the challenge to keep you in balance

Promise:

You will find the time to do as much or as little as you want

 

always,

Michele

 

p.s.

we now have a little facebook group to go with this blog...it is

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1395164947399764/

 

also known as 1 little word

pencils

I asked a question about a pencil earlier this week.

Which end is most important?

I just love pencils!  I have cups filled with them displayed on my counter, I have a string of metal bucket filled with them hanging on the wall and I almost always have a couple setting on my desk.  I find the prettiest ones at a large craft store close by (Michaels $1+ section) and there are always great pencils at gift shops and junk stores.

 

I don't just love pencils...I use them.  It is so much easier to change my mind in pencil!  Which brings me back to the original question...which end is most important?

 

A pencil is a useful tool.  We can record thoughts, histories, stories and more with a pencil...it is a chew toy when we are in school and nervously taking a test...it is perfect for creating music, poetry and art.  There are two ends to every pencil.  The other end has only one use...to erase.

Now which end is most important?

I believe both ends are equally important....one who creates must also have the ability to erase.

 

I have a favorite novel...it is old and relevant even today.  You may have seen the old movies or the musical based on this book...Les Miserables by Victor Hugo.  It is a story of two men.  One cannot forgive anyone not even himself the other man can forgive anyone except himself.  I know other people have taken other messages from the story of Les Miserable but for me it is always a story of forgiveness.  From the priest who give Jean Valjean the silver from his theft to the death of Javert as he confronts his own lack of humanity and finally to Jean Valjean's lonely death as he abandons all those he loves because he cannot forgive himself for his past mistakes.

 

As a young girl I gave my little sister a haircut one day.  I "trimmed" her bangs about a 1/2" long and all the way back to the middle of her head.  My mom was furious and my dad laughed.  His comment has stuck with me all these years, "the only difference between a good haircut and a bad haircut is about two weeks".

 

The thread that connects all these things is forgiveness. 

for me self-forgiveness is the hardest thing I will ever do.  I can forgive just about anyone for their mistakes. Neighbors, children, husband, friends, even strangers...I can easily forgive them.

But when it comes to forgiving myself it is a different story.  I seem to be more critical and unforgiving of myself than anyone else.

I am over weight - I can't forgive myself and I am occasionally unkind to myself with my self-talk and by pointing out my problem in unflattering ways.  I feel like I embarrass my friends and family so I stay home or try to be invisible in public settings.  This weight issue is one I will work on all of my life and it is the one thing I most want to change about myself.  What I have just recently come to understand is that until I forgive myself for being over weight I will never be able to change it.

 

I am forgetful - I obsess over my forgetfulness and call myself dumb. It is human but I feel like I should be better than that.

 

I am unorganized - I remind myself of how I don't measure up. I keep most people at arms length so they cannot witness the disorganization in my home and in my life.

 

So today my word is forgive...I begin today to forgive myself for not always being enough...for not being as perfect as I think I should be...as the world says I should be.

 

And that my friends is the answer of which end is most important...it depends on which one we are using at the moment, and today it is the eraser because I am learning to forgive.

 

Challenge:

Choose a word that can change your reality

Promise:

It will be hard but change can come.

 

 

My friend Abbie has taken this challenge and she started out with a huge bang!  She is confronting her demons and letting them go...they will have no power over her!

I love you Abbie!

 

always,

michele

 

time?

I found this on Pinterest and it seemed to be perfect for this blog and this challenge

I want each of the six or seven of you who are following this and I want my children who do not even know about this blog, to know what I know.  Words, our words, create an environment.

Words create a breeding ground for thought and conversation.

When I respond thoughtlessly to anyone, when I speak carelessly, I create a wall to communication.

"Words become the house you live in"

What kind of house do you live in?  What kind of environment do you want to create?

 

 

The question has come up one more time about how much time this will take?

It will take what ever you give to it.

Let's consider time for a moment.

Time is a commodity just like money.  It is spent or wasted according to our habits, our instincts, our choices and our lack of discretion.

Consider this...every day you are awarded 24 hours.  No one on this planet gets any more or any less than you.  Now you have this amazing fund to spend.  24 hours, 1440 minutes to spend every day.

Now let's make a budget for your time.  You must include the following in your budget.

Sleep

Food

Chores

personal hygiene

service to family and others

free time

That is your budget.

How much time you spend for each part of your budget with determine the balance* of your day and in turn your life.

 

How much time you spend on this project/challenge is entirely up to you. 

If you journal you may add one word and it's definition and your thoughts on that word to your daily journal.

If you facebook you can post your one word however often on your page with the definition and your thoughts on that word.

If you have a blog...blog it

and if you have time

draw, doodle and create in a dictionary.

 

 

Tonight I chose the word time because you have questions and I have found what I think might help you. 

 

TODAY'S CHALLENGE:

Consider time and what you have to spend on this project

 

TODAY'S PROMISE:

You will find the time to do whatever you choose to do and what you cannot find time for is really not as important as you may think it is.

 

A little creative tip:

I added a little journal page to collect and organize my thoughts on time.  I simply glued it between two pages and it fit perfectly. I will be using this more often because it allows me to expound upon my thoughts as I become more entrenched in this challenge.

one more tip:

washi tape (be still my heart) works perfectly in my dictionary and I think it will work perfectly in yours as well.

 

always,

michele

 

p.s. I found tomorrow's word as I was writing this post which again proves to me that the words are speaking to me! (*balance)

 

home...

It is only my 2nd day on this challenge and I can already see that I am kicking my own backside!  I told you about the dream I had regarding my one little word...now comes the time when I begin making lists.

word lists.

the next of my words is

home.

I chose this word for a couple of reasons

1. I like to doodle and this is a word I can doodle the heck out of.

2. I want you to doodle and I know you can do something wonderful with the word home

3. home is not by definition what I thought it should be so I am enlarging upon the dictionary.

 

I think as I go through this challenge I may find on more than one occasion a word will by definition not come up to the feelings and expectations I have for it.

 

I started this word like I expect to start every word...I looked it up in the dictionary.

home: a family's place of residence:  DOMICILE

house

the social unit formed by a family living together

a congenial environment

 

there was more but not what home means to me...I mean to say home is all those things but so much more to me.

 

I took a marker and highlighted the word in blue.

I then doodled what home is in my world...

in my world home is a sanctuary.

it is safe.

it is warm (except during a heat wave then it should be cool)

it is peaceful (again some stipulations apply)

it is filled with memories and laughter and joy

it is a place where a scent can send you reeling to a time and place long gone

home is heaven on earth

it is sacred

it is holy

it is a privilege

it is what we make it.

 

None of that is in the definition...but this is my word and I have the obligation to tell anyone what I believe home to be so I doodled it.

 

then I colored it

and when I had done those things I linked it to what I hoped would clarify my definition...

note: can you see that not every entry has to be so fancy...some entries are more simple and to the point. 

 

as I told you I didn't like the definition in my dictionary so I decided to add my own. 

first

I read the words on the opposite page to make sure I didn't mind covering them up.

next

I added white paint to the page

next

I smoothed it out with a brush

then I wrote my definition...what I think of when I hear the word home

 

I was just about to close the book on this entry when something rather remarkable happened.  I spied with my little eye a word

holy spirit

I had already doodled on it so I took this little gift and rewrote the definition above the page...

"the active presence of God in human life"

So you see there are hidden messages and reminders all over your dictionary if you will just see them.

 

today's challenge:

doodle a word...any word

today's promise

your definition of any word is the right definition if it speaks to your heart

 

if it feel right to you link your word to another word...this is how words explode before you.  One leads to another and another and.....

 

always,

Michele