Why it is OK to just, Not

Does the title of this blog post make sense?  There's been something on my mind recently .... and it's that i'm just Not.  I'm just Not doing anything.  I'm being lazy, I'm falling out of my routines, I'm just Not.  I'm just Not feeling like myself.

(if you want to not use this in your own journal, planner or scrapbook you can download a 3x4 image here and a white PNG overlay here.)

I want to say that it is ok to just Not.  The only thing pushing you is you and maybe you need a break from it all.  It gets exhausting working towards goals and sometimes you get caught up in the getting there that the journey gets annoying, defeating, or lost.  

I think that is where I am right now.

My word of the year for 2017 is Mindful.  And I want to be more aware of my journey....not just reaching the destination.

So it is is ok to just, Not at certain times.  Just stop.  Stop working, stop striving, stop pushing and evaluate where you are.  Where are you in your journey?  Are you spinning wheels?  Are you stuck and not moving forward?  Enjoy where you are now before pushing yourself forward.  Sometimes it takes a little bit of reflection and intention to get start to move forward again.

In 2016 I focused on the word forward.  I just wanted to move confidently in the direction of my dreams (pretty sure I saw that quote on Pinterest) but I think as we got closer and closer to 2017 I stalled out.  That was evidenced by the lack of YouTube videos and blog posts.  I wasn't focused, I wasn't aware, I didn't have intent.

That is what mindful for me in 2017 is - awareness and intent.  To be comfortable where I am and to move forward with intention.

So, if you need to know...sometimes it is ok to just, Not.

Enjoy your Wednesday!

xoxo, Moe

ps. for the month of January not only am I working on the One Little Word prompt from Ali Edwards I'm also doing January Reset from Allie Scraps in planner form.  I'm going to be sharing more on the blog and in a YouTube video shortly!

Feeling Stagnant

I think around this time every year I get to feeling a little bit stagnant.  I get to feeling like I don't know what to share, I don't know what to blog about, I just feel a little less inspired.  I don't know if it is the changing weather or what...but sometimes I feel like I need to just take a break. 

So, I'm just writing this to say you may find fewer posts than normal on the blog in the near future.  Do not be alarmed!  I will come back to blogging.  I always do!  I have a few posts scheduled up and a few ideas I hope to see to fruition.....but there's just going to be a lot of silence here.  So be sure to check me out on Instagram and Snapchat (both are @fivesixteenths) and my YouTube channel.

While I'm gone though, this is probably what I'm doing

Failing at a lot of projects

Whenever I feel less inspired, I always just make things.  I make random things - things I'll never use, things that suck, things that don't work out.  This helps me get out the creative energy I feel I have building up but can't execute.  It clears way for more focused creativity.

Thinking

I'll be thinking a lot about what I'm doing and why I'm doing it.  This will lead me back to why I started blogging in the first place and it may lead me to a new change in the blog.  I might come back with brand new ideas or I might come back with a brand new perspective.  My main concern now is to make sure that I am offering diverse content that I'm proud of.  I don't want to continually offer the same type of content over and over - there are a few different things I'm interested it....so I need to find that balance and brainstorm new content regarding the things I love.

Mainly I'll be trying to move Forward.  My word of the year really comes into play here.  I feel like I've been moving in that forward motion but I'm feeling myself slow up.  So I just need to take a second, sit back, and see where I need to go next.  There are a few things I need to do to get me back on track.  I've got a ton of ideas in my head but they are being blocked by the energy to create and the inability to follow through.  So I'll probably be taking some time to get my head back on straight.

If you want to read more on my word of the year, click here.  Please hop on over to my other social channels to follow me there in case I don't  have much to say here in the next few weeks.  I'll be back though.

xoxo, Moe

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