One Little Word: Commit

There has been this online "project" put together for several years now by a blogger and scrapbooker named Ali Edwards. It's called "One Little Word" and the basic idea is that you choose a word to be the theme of your entire year, a springboard, a catalyst, for living the kind of life you want for yourself. I never intended to participate in it, not because I have any particular problem with it--I actually think it's a great idea--but more because I don't scrapbook anymore and I am a "play by the rules" sort of girl. However, I did elect to do another "online challenge," for a photo-a-day project, and one of the prompts centered on photographing your one little word. I played along, chose a word, photographed it, and that was that. And now...I find it creeping into my every day life. Funny how that works...

My word is "commit."

For obvious reasons, that is a big word for me in 2012. I am going to legally and officially commit to a man. Not that I haven't already, but...there's a difference. That's *why* people take marriage seriously: because they feel it's a deeper commitment than just "being committed." (And yes, I know, maybe you don't need it to "define" *your* commitment to another person, and that's ok, but for *me*, it is a big deal. The commitment of marriage means something to me. It is a declaration I wish to make.)

With any luck, I will be committing to a house in 2012. We'll see.

And now I see this word--commit--sneaking into more than just these Big Things.

I am committed to growing out my hair. Even on the days it makes me loony.

I am committed to this photo project.

I am committed to some personal goals and wishes.

And just this morning, my photo prompt arrived in my inbox: "living your word." And I looked at my plan for today: a trip to my happy place, to Disney World. And I realized that, while I am always up for a day in the world of magic and sparkle, I am especially drawn there when I have been exposed to too much crabbiness.  I have made the decision, the commitment, if you will, to take the flood of negativity that rises up around me and push it aside, replace it with things that fill me with joy. I am committed, to myself and my mental well-being, to not be weighed down by the world around me.

I don't know if I am "doing this right." Maybe this is one of those things that cannot be done wrong. What I know is that "commit" is finding a way into my 2012 in ways I had not anticipated. And that's pretty cool.