2017: Watchword and Goals

It's here--the last day of 2016! Finally! The country's political landscape is a mess, the world has been plagued by violence and terror, humanity has lost some truly talented artists, and personally, 2016 was seemingly one disaster after another. The start of a new year may be an arbitrary human construct, but I still like the idea of a fresh start, however imaginary!

My theme for 2016 was "discipline," and I was doing fairly well with it riiiiight up until May when everything went to hell--we learned the Ollie has more severe developmental delays beyond speech, my mom passed away, my dziadzi passed away, and the woman renting CP's condo ran out on 2 months' rent and trashed it, doing $10k worth of damage. Whatever 2017 may bring, it's hard to imagine it could be more personally challenging (but I'm keeping my expectations low, just in case).

So, I've chosen my watchword for 2017 with an eye toward recharging things--and that word is "nourish." After a year that has taken so much out of me, I need to put some good things back in in 2017--nourish my mind, body and spirit, nourish my relationships, and nourish my business! 

I've also made a few knitting- and design-related goals, with my theme in mind:

• Knit 4 sweaters for myself; I didn't knit any sweaters for myself last year (though I do sometimes wear my design samples), and I really need to refresh my sweater wardrobe--with things someone else has designed and done all that pesky math for. What do you think, #selfishsweaterchallenge?
• Start teaching. Yes, I set this goal last year, and while I took some initial steps, I didn't quite get there. So let's try again!
• Take at least 3 classes/workshops. Part of nourishing my business is learning new things--this year I've been taking a branding/marketing course that's been great and given me lots of new ideas, so I want to continue that trend in 2017. 
• Collaborate. Meeting new people, exchanging ideas, working together to create something--I'm not naturally outgoing so I find this challenging, but I also think it's important to breath new life into the creative process, so I hope to collaborate with at least one new dyer/designer/fiber artist in the coming year. 

Are you ready to say goodbye to 2016? Do you have big plans for 2017? Share in the comments!

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