Word of 2016 // FORWARD

On every single international flight I take, there are two movies I'm guaranteed to watch - the Incredibles and 500 Days of Summer.  The fact that these two movies are both about moving forward went over my head until just recently when I was researching a quote to go with my word of the year.   I never look back darling, it distracts from the now.  That is the quote I've chosen to go with my word for the year FORWARD.

Last year my word was EXPLORE and the quote I chose to go with that word was An artist is an explorer.  (read last year's post here, and 2014's post here)  I chose that phrase and that word because I'd thought I'd lost track of what it meant to be an artist.  I feel like I should have that title as I did complete a Fine Arts degree but I haven't created anything that I thought could be labeled as art in ages.  When I found that quote, I knew that it was time for me to explore what art could be.  When you Google what is art a definition is returned and the first half of that definition is the expression or application of human creative skill and imagination.  Art can be problem solving, art can be creating something, art can be the care it takes to create something so everyday that it is essentially forgotten.  Art is design, art is feeling, art is creativity.  Art is anything - as long as you are understanding the process.

Art isn't happenstance - it is a process, it is dedication, it is repeated results.  Art is experimentation and science.  Art is creative problem solving.  Art is looking at something in a different way and thus solving a problem differently.  Art is creative thinking.

Art can be in the boardroom, in the garage, in a design program.  Art is creative problem solving.

EXPLORE also taught me that I am not prepared to head in the direction of the creative goals I laid out for 2015.  But that doesn't mean I wasn't creative.  I jumped more into the planning community and love the creativity I've seen there.  Designing stickers and inserts really gets my creative juices flowing in to productivity - and I love that.

EXPLORE taught me that I really like planner videos and I like filming planner videos.  EXPLORE also taught me how to take control of my life by exploring different planning styles.  I've finally found planner peace and it took a lot of exploring and a lot of planning to get me here.

EXPLORE taught me about traavel.  Zach and I explored Seoul, South Korea while he was there for work.  EXPLORE taught me about traveling by myself and traveling in a totally foreign country.  EXPLORE also taught me that Michigan is beautiful and about the settlements at Mackinaw.

All of that is what EXPLORE taught me last year.

So what will FORWARD bring for me this year?  No clue!  I don't have it figured out but I want to keep momentum going.  I want to move in the direction I'm being pushed and I just want to keep making, keep creating, and keep problem solving.  I love the challenge. 

I don't have anything too lofty to set this year because I've learned that you can plan life out, but life will happen.  I just want to be aware and to move FORWARD.  I don't want to look back.

FORWARD doesn't have much to do with career goals this year - though I would love to drop everything and be able to travel with Zach.  But I can't figure out how that would work financially yet (plus I've got a pup that I promised a home and I'm not about to give that up).

FORWARD motion.  FORWARD.  Just keep going.

I never look back darling, it distracts from the now.

What is your word for the year?  Any special goals?

xoxo, Moe