I have been making handmade books for over 10 years. I tend to stick books I am familiar with making so that I can work on my craftsmanship while creating enough product to sell at various stores, galleries and shows. While teaching a class on bookmaking at the local university here in Blacksburg, VA, a friend of mine handed me a book on how to make books. As we combed through the book together, I realized that there were so many books that I had yet to discover! I decided to challenge myself to work from one end of the ‘How To’ to the other. This month, I created the 5 Hole Pamphlet (with inside folder), 5 Hole Pamphlet Do-Si-Do and the Basic Codex.

5 Hole Pamphlet : Inside View with Folder

I am privileged enough to meet monthly with an AMAZING group of Creative Professional women in my adopted hometown of Blacksburg, VA. We have been meeting for years and have fallen into a comfortable rhythm of reflecting on our previous year each December and goal setting each January. Several years ago, we started choosing our ‘Word of the Year’ in January. My original word was ‘Courage’ but that did not feel quite right…

I know I have courage. I left an incredibly toxic relationship at the beginning of 2018. A relationship that needed to end much earlier than it did. A relationship that left with me with low self confidence and little self worth. Being alone scared me endlessly but it was the best decision I’ve ever made for my daughter and me. I took myself to and from China by myself to work with children in July 2018. This was a trip that changed my emotional, spiritual and financially life forever. I regularly create art and put it on public display. That takes courage. And then, five days before Christmas, the Children’s Museum where I have spent the past 1.5 years of my life as Program Coordinator for children age 0-5 years, announced it would be closing it doors for an unforeseeable time as it transitioned to a new location…and if we wanted to work there again, we would have to reapply for any available positions. Looking ahead to an unknown future as a single mother and a full-time working artist in a rural town in southwestern Virginia takes courage.

The word courage didn't fit this new chapter of my life.

The more I reflected on what I wanted 2019 to be, I wanted courage…on steroids. That is when I found the word ‘TENACITY.’

Courage plus spirit, grit and spunk; a fierce determination.

So bring it 2019. I’m ready.

What is your Word of the Year? How did you come to choose it?