Hello Everyone! I have some extra creative space this year so I decided to do a podcast as a fun side project. It’s called marked as flagged and is a podcast about enjoying life as a mom in your 50s. In the first full episode, I wrote about a few fun New Year themes – choosing a personal word of the year, using Pantone’s color of the year 2024, and making a vision board.
Word of the Year
For 2024, I considered words of the year like thrive, live, flourish, health, habits, strength, and peace. (These words reminded me of my father-in-law who passed away at the end of last year. )
I ended up choosing the word wisdom though. I chose the word “wisdom” because at this “big age” of 50, I know many things or (at the very least) know who to ask for the knowledge that I need. Charles Spurgeon’s “Wisdom is the right use of knowledge” is what I’m focusing on this year. I want to focus on applying what I know in every area of my life.
Spurgeon’s extended quote says,
Wisdom is the right use of knowledge. To know is not to be wise. Many men know a great deal, and are all the greater fools for it. There is no fool so great a fool as a knowing fool.
Charles Spurgeon
I definitely don’t want to be a fool!
Picking a word of the year is one thing. REMEMBERING it is what tends to be a challenge for many people. My number one tip is to place your Word where you will see it daily. I wear a bracelet with my word on it and put a magnet with the word on my refrigerator so that I don’t forget it.
Pantone’s Color of the Year 2024
Next, let’s talk about Pantone’s color of the year. My friend Jennifer introduced me to this annual color choice many years ago. Every December, Pantone picks a new color for the upcoming year. Sometimes I like their picks. Sometimes I don’t. This year, the color is peach fuzz. It’s not my favorite, but I can work with it.
If you like the color of the year too, you can celebrate it in different ways. I get a bracelet with my word of the year and crystals in the color of the year. I make a magnet for my fridge with my word of the year and its meaning on the color of the year background as well.
I ask my husband and sons to get me small holiday gifts like pens, planners or journals in the color too. My husband gave me one of his scented pens – a peach-colored sugared grapefruit-scented one. I love it and want to buy a whole pack of them but they only come in variety packs. Oh, well… I found a cute peach journal too. Peach isn’t my favorite, but it’s okay.
In addition, I give my friends (who have worked with me in various church ministries throughout the year) small Christmas gifts in the color of the year. I loved last year’s berry color so they received scarves. This year, I bought them manicure accessories with OPI’s Machu Peach-u peach nail polish. Peach IS a good nail polish for a variety of skin tones, so that’s good at least.
Usually, I decorate my bathroom and bedroom with the color of the year, but not this time. Maybe next year…
Vision Boards
Now, let’s talk about vision boards. Making vision boards is fun! In the simplest terms, they are boards with words and pictures about your dreams and goals. They help remind you to work hard to make your dreams come true.
Vision boards aren’t magic, but sometimes things on them happen in surprising ways. It’s okay if something doesn’t happen right away; it might happen later. For example, I put a picture of Paris on a board and years later went on a wonderful trip there with my mom.
I’ve made vision boards for years and hosted parties to make them with friends. Even if you don’t especially like artsy things (like I don’t), it’s still fun! It feels like being in kindergarten again, cutting and gluing pictures.
Another idea, which I did for 2024, is to make a vision board as your phone’s screen background. I watched a Vision Board video on the Journey with the Hintons YouTube channel for direction.
These are just a few ways to start 2024 off on a special note.
If you listen to podcasts, please visit my marked as flagged podcast to hear the full episodes. I’ll be discussing how I’m approaching my goals for 2024 on the next episode…