One Little Word - April Prompts

 Some months are harder than others.  For me April was a rough one - though I should be quick to add it was not because anything bad happened.  There was so just much going on and so much to do (the Etsy shop had our highest sales month ever - woohoo!, Spring Projects, Spring Break, and the craziness of life in general) that it felt like a marathon, where you are determined to finish it all and don't want to stop or slow down even though at times it feels overwhelming.  (At least I imagine that's the mentality in a marathon)  Midway through the month I recognized that I was constantly tired and cranky and having a hard time keeping the right balance mentally so I took the time to order a ring engraved with my Word for the Year (Intention) to help me have a more physical reminder of the mindset I wanted to have.

Needless to say, I didn't have the right opportunity to clear out my brain enough to put together everything for the month's OLW prompt (One Little Word Workshop with Ali Edwards) though I did take a few minutes for journaling here and there.  Then magically on Thursday (May 1) I found myself with a large chunk of the day's plans cancelled (rainy days do come in handy sometimes) and I was able to finish - yay!

First off, my reflections for March:

 Part one of the assignment for April was to put our word into photos.  My first thought was to take entirely new photos throughout the month as the opportunity arose.  Of course that didn't happen.  So I was surprised at how easily it came together once I sat down, made a list of some of the ideas I wanted to illustrate and found I could almost immediately think of photos I had taken within the last 6 months that fit the concepts I had in mind.

 

The second part of the assignment was to find something to Let Go of for the month and then to journal about it directly on top of a photo of ourselves.  Wow - out of my comfort zone on that one, for sure.  I hate my handwriting and it's so rare now that I am in photos and even more rare that I like how I look in them.  All I see is frizzy hair and wrinkles.  I know - it's a self image thing.  I'm working on it and working on figuring out how to tame the frizz ;)  (seriously, it's been years of experimenting with the best way to deal with my curly hair since moving to this high humidity).  The photo is one I took with my phone to show off a new haircut to some far-away friends a few months back.

 

 The journaling reads:
Let It Go - How funny that I became obsessed with that song (from Disney's Frozen movie) months ago and how fitting that it applies in so many ways to my life.  I belt it out at the top of my lungs and whatever part needs to speak to me at the moment is there.
-be myself.  Don't worry how that appears to others/what they think
-put it behind me.  Stop obsessing and move on
-it isn't important.  Don't worry about it.
-you're happy.  Be Happy!
-sing and dance.  It's who you are and it feels good
-expectations determine our perspective.  Modify as needed
So April's assignment, in part, was to find something ot let go.  I got stuck on that because there are about a million appropriate and meaningful responses to that.  And at the same time I felt like I've put a lot of effort into Letting Go on a lot of different fronts and don't need to add  any more (and overwhelm myself).  Then April hit, hard and heavy, and I was stressed, frazzled, tired and cranky.  Life was going too fast and I couldn't get a break.  So here I sit in the Overwhelmed stage, not exactly sure what to do about it all or even if I should.  But that sums up my Let it Go lesson for the month - whatever is interrupting/interfering with my calm/peace of mind at any given moment, that is what I need to Let Go.  Expectations of myself.  Unreasonable demands on my time.  Frustration. with a person or situation.  Never-ending To Do lists. 
Just Let It Go!

 So there you have it - April's prompt not only finished but blogged!

PS - Happy Saturday and Happy National Scrapbook day to all!  I'm thinking I might just find MAKE the time this afternoon to pull out the supplies and create something.