I have been choosing a word of the year for almost fifteen years now. Last year, my word was “manifest,” and some things really came into focus as a result. I became a reader again and discovered that I do like the magical realism genre after all (although I am not a big fan of Isabel Allende’s version in House of the Spirits). I began rereading some old favorites and found some new favorites. And I still read more than my fair share of Regency historicals, mysteries and romances alike.
This year, my word is “explore.” I want to explore more new ideas and discover new opportunities. One area that I want to explore is photography and creative, artistic photo editing. To that end, I enrolled in a year-long class, A Year of Creative Photography. Already, I have begun playing with new ideas–using brushes and creative filters to alter my usual more documentary photos into something completely different. I’m also exploring ways to use my new camera lens, the Lensbaby Velvet 56. I took this picture of the camellia right after Christmas and after watching the video in the classroom about creative editing, I played.
Using a couple of filters in Photoshop changed the emotion of the image. I am intrigued by the motion and the color.
I also have on my bucket list of explorations are more trips to visit the state parks in South Carolina. Right now, it’s just too darned cold to go out for any length of time. I’m also exploring more of my family’s history. I know some of the family history on my maternal grandmother’s side. We are descendants of the Salzburgers, a group of Austrians who immigrated to Georgia in the 1700s and settled about 30 miles from Savannah in a small community called Ebenezer. They founded a Lutheran church, Jerusalem Lutheran Church, which is the oldest continuous congregation in the United States. Like so many others, these Lutherans came seeking religious freedom as well as economic freedom. I’m sure there is more to their history than these few details, and that is one thing I want to explore.
I also enrolled in Ali Edwards’s One Little Word class, another year-long exploration, as a way to document my journey through this year of exploring. I’m working through those prompts now.
This is my second full year into retirement. While I enjoy sitting in the rocking chair with a good books—an exploration all its own, and in the corner of the couch with my knitting needles or crochet hook and yarn, I also want to keep my brain active by learning and growing. I am exploring ways to use my voice in my church and community. I am actively studying the Bible. One of my reading goals for this year is to read more nonfiction although I have found that sometimes I do better listening to nonfiction books on Audible than I do by reading the texts. (I wonder why that is?)
So, here’s to the explorations for this year!
Telling Stories 