Are You Happy Yet?

Defining a goal in one word seemed rather daunting until I tried it. Last year a friend challenged me to nominate a ‘word for the year’. It seemed an interesting exercise and I decided to give it some thought. However, the thoughts continued to return to a simple word: happy. For a person who is considered a deep thinker by many who know me well, this innoculous word was almost an insult.



Happy? Isn’t that a rather flighty word? Wait a minute – flighty? The year before, without the emphasis on a ‘word of the year’ I had made FLYING my word. It was peppered throughout my writing and conversation. Not the kind of flight one takes from fear, but the sort of flying that results from freedom and exploration of new places and things. In fact, that journey into flight resulted in this blog, among other things. Maybe this was a logical progression.

So there I sat with this word HAPPY. Now what was I to do with it? At first it had a rather garish grin, like a smiley face, but as I lived with it the word grew roots. I guess at first I was chasing that giddy feeling that comes from sunshine and giggles. Nothing wrong there, especially if you have felt a bit estranged from both. As my heart lightened I was all the more attracted to let in the light from the windows in my world.


In 2010 I was determined to not only notice these windows, but open some! New pathways. Slowly happy-ness began to mean growth. I embraced some of my old and latent interests in new ways. Shook off some cobwebs. It had been years since I was a happy art student, so I tried to re-embrace that section of my soul and re-define what it meant to be creative. It was time to sharpen the proverbial pencils and have a bit of fun back at the drawing and writing table.

It was time to sketch out new options and applications. Pencils, paint and pixels all vying for my attention. However, as challenges arose the word happy was almost lost. And then it re-emerged from the shadow lands with deeper meaning yet again. This time it was girded with strength and courage. Who would ever expect these two words to travel together with a word such as happy? However, without these two companions I realised that just wishing to be happy can actually make one weak and confused. Standing firm on principles and being willing to make sacrifices ultimately generates a happy-ness that firmly grounds any flighty associations this word usually carries.

So while on the surface 2010 did not look excessively happy, it was indeed.

That being said, I would like to wish all who visit this page a most HAPPY New Year!

Do you have a word that encapsulates your year in 2010 - or a word you'd like to capture for 2011? If so, I'd love to hear about it!



A peek at next year’s word in the layout above was created with Mary Ann Wise's kit 'Grungy Solids Freebie' at Design House Digital. Janet Carr's kit 'Dear Sweet Friend' from Little Feet Digital Designs at For the Love of Art was used on the Happy layout at top. Both used pre-designed 'Decorative Click n Fill' pages designed by Laurie Callison for Creative Memories.