Every year around this time I go through the website to figure out what I like and what I want to change. This year, I’m happy to say that it only took a week. I think that after 4 and a half years of blogging I’m finally getting it!
Honestly, having a website has been kind of like sculpting. When I first started in 2015, it was with a website on WordPress called “Working on Life” and I had only a vague idea of what I wanted to do with it. It was like being given a big blob of clay without ever having sculpted before. Eventually I developed enough experience to get it into a rough shape. Over the next couple of years I was able to pinch off things here and shape up things there, rename and reconfigure, until I got closer to something I could be happy with. And now it’s simply a matter of shaving off little pieces to get the details right, then sit back and enjoy playing with it.
I look back on some of the earliest blogs I wrote and am really glad I never migrated them from one site to the next. An artist’s portfolio should only include her best work, and I believe the same philosophy applies to a good website. So if mine seems a little thin in content right now, it’s because I went through and pulled the weeds so that the flowers could be seen clearly. I have no doubt that more weeds will pop up this year (but also more flowers!).
Plans for 2020
My Word of the Year for 2019 was Purpose, and I happily look back to see that I’ve found it again. Contrary to what most people think, retiring from a full time career is hard. One day you have a schedule full of activities with lots of goals to reach and the next day they’re all gone. It’s then that you realize you’ve been spending years of your life fulfilling the visions set forth by your employer and ignoring independent objectives of your own. Who has time to create a personal achievement list when you’re focused on getting a promotion, or the corner office, or just keeping a job?
This year I needed Purpose. After spending 2018 exploring options, it was time to choose a path forward. So I increased my community volunteer time. I took a few classes in drawing, pastels and watercolor and experimented with various art media. I thought about freelancing. I felt pretty good about what I was doing, but nothing really clicked until November. That’s when I decided to make a second attempt at NaNoWriMo.
I never wrote so much so fast in my life (not even in college)! It became a habit; I discovered I loved it. I’ve kept at it through the entire month of December, albeit at a slower pace, and have no inclination to stop.
This, then, will be the focus of my website during 2020. I’ll still be posting artwork and art-related stuff, but I want to spend more time on writing. I’ve enrolled in some online writing classes and I’m looking forward to starting a new novel. I’ve got the draft from NaNoWriMo to edit and finish. And I’m having a blast writing short stories from prompts. I plan on posting those here on the website as they are finished.
So this year, I chose Create as my 2020 Word of the Year. It seemed appropriate. I’m looking forward to see what comes of it.
Do you choose a Word of the Year for inspiration? What is yours?
originally posted at annettezimmerman.com
