New Year, New Word?

I have been choosing one word for the year for a while now. 

Over the years since 2011 I've chosen Restore, Focus, Present, Participate, Thirst, Purpose, Connect, Gratitude/Thankfulness, Commit/Commitment, Walk, Intentional and More.  This year's has been Connect.

I signed up for Ali Edwards' One Little Word class this year and managed to do quite a few of the prompts.  I also didn't worry if I missed out some of them.

Connect has been a good word for me.  I'm happy with how intentional it made me.  I am happy to let it go, although coincidentally 'Making Connections' is the theme for 2024 for the Midland Textile Forum and our exhibitions.

So, on to 2024 and a new word for a new year.

But what should it be?

For a while I thought it was going to be [curious] or [curiosity] but it didn't totally grab me.

Then I thought about {discover}.  There are lots of strong synonyms for this word but I thought these gathered together what I need for 2024: design, devise, explore, identify, invent, learn, notice, observe, reveal.

What can I {discover}:
about myself,
about my textile practice,
about new techniques,
about taking my ideas further.

Who knows, but it has the potential for an interesting year.

There are a couple of days left of 2023 so quite possibly there's time for a different word to crop up!

Do you choose a Word of the Year?  Let me know what it is in the comments below.

Thanks for joining me today.
Bernice

PS: The name of the sculpture in the photograph is the 'Monument of Discoveries'.

Happy Christmas

Wishing you all a very

Happy Christmas

Marc Ignacio on Unsplash

with a poem I wrote at the last Theme Poetry of 2023
 

Tall and Slim 

I
would
be
beautiful

if not for
the marks.
I’m tall
and slim.
A tall, slim,
white candle
Standing straight,
upright
and tall.
But those
marks I feel
disfigure me.
What are
they? Why
are they
there?
Did I
mention
I’m tall
and slim?
What’s this?
A stick
of flame
touches
my head.
It burns.
My head
shines
brightly.
How?
And then
just as
quickly
the light’s
snuffed
out. I
feel strange.
Some part
of me has
dripped
down
my sides.
Brightness and darkness alternate.
But as the darkness falls, a light
flares up and touches my head each time.
I am no longer tall, slim and white. I’m almost gone.
Dissolved, disfigured, pooled in the saucer I’ve stood on
these past twenty four days. There's just enough of me
For one last show of light to glow on Christmas Day. 

Thanks for visiting my blog this year
Bernice

Looking Down

The last theme for the photographic ladies this year was 'Looking Down'.

The thing about looking down is that it can be from a great height or it could just be what's at our feet.

These are views from high place down into valleys in Australia.

But this was at my feet as we walked.

In Western Australia we walked through a Tree Top Walk.  Here's the view looking down into the forest floor.

When we were in Albany (WA) we went to the top of a monument and looked down onto the port.

These were the steps we climbed up.  The photo was taken as we started the walk back down.

And finally!  From the bedroom window when the frost had melted on half the lawn!

Thank you for joining me today.
Bernice