2015 Word of the Year

Bilbo sings:
The Road goes ever on and on,
Down from the door where it began.
Now far ahead the Road has gone,
And I must follow, if I can,
Pursuing it with eager feet,
Until it joins some larger way
Where many paths and errands meet.
And whither then? I cannot say.

Here I am messaging with a friend one night about a myriad of things. We often get into these marathon, intense chat sessions that are the kinds of discussions that are deep, encouraging, sometimes sensitive, and rather direct. We both have a couple of blogs and when she posts to one of them I will often respond with a rather direct comment about what I read rather than posting on her blog. We can do that, be direct. We know each other well enough that the comments are read with the care and concern with which they are intended.

It’s during this chat session that I knew what my 2015 Word of the Year would be, flowing freely from Pondering and reflecting on 2014, from the experience of blogging, and my deep down nature. When I started this blog 18 months ago I had no idea where it would lead. I’d been struggling with my faith for a while however there was a deep longing in my heart and mind that I could not ignore. Faith, a deep sense of God in my life, a deep longing in my heart for that divine, that Creative, Life Giving God must be met with my time and attention.

The word:

Like Ponder, Journey is an active word, a going from here to there. Journey encompasses a sense of movement.

As I started writing there is a trip I take at least twice a year on roads that I know well enough that I don’t particularly pay attention to what’s going on around me. Quite frequently my goal is to get there quickly enough that I can spend time with the people I’m going to see. The return trip is much the same, I am ready to be home, sleeping in my own bed. However, there are people I can visit, places I can stop to see along the way that would make the journey much more interesting.

On my way to work thoughts come to mind about stopping on the side of the road to take photos of the foliage – this would mostly be a spring/fall desire as the world wakes up or begins to take it’s well earned rest – it’s not safe to do this due to the speed of traffic. It is a desire to appreciate the beauty of what’s around me, to enjoy what this trip has to offer, to more fully engage with what’s going on around me.

Writing is part of that active process. I stop to think about the day, the experience, the friendship, the heart of the matter. I get that taking time to reflect and ponder is part of that journey. These two words of action are just part of my life.

They are part of my quilting life. I think about quilting, about where I am with quilting, where I’m going and where I think I’d like to be with quilting. I doodle mindfully to get better at quilting. I stitch on practice pieces all the time. It’s part of the journey toward growth and one day being a master quilter. I think about the journey to being a quilt teacher and how it was unexpected and it is one of my greatest joys in life. I think about the journey to writing this book and the journey of writing this book. The stuff in the middle of all of that from desire to action has been full of the things I need to actually do this.

And this blog chronicles, to some degree, my faith journey. The journaling and the quilting inform one another in ways that words somehow fail me. Both journaling and quilting make connections that run deep and feed my soul. And in that I thank God for the gift of both.

Thank you for being part of this journey!

God bless!