You’re probably familiar with the idea of focusing on one specific word for a New Year’s resolution, but Ali Edwards takes this concept a bit deeper with her One Little Word (OLW) Project.
Ali is a designer, blogger, and creator of many popular scrapbooking projects, including December Daily.
For the OLW project, you’ll first choose one word to focus on for a year. Next, you’ll create a scrapbook centered around that theme.
You could also use your chosen word to inspire journal writing, blog posts, art, reflection, prayer, and much more.
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Why do this?
You don’t need to be a writer to know that words are powerful.
Proverbs 18:20 says that “words satisfy the soul as food satisfies the stomach.”
The OLW project gives you the opportunity to reflect on what matters to you and to set intentions that are aligned with your values.
As you write, photograph, and create art, you’ll gain a new perspective and maybe even a deeper relationship with yourself and the world around you.
It would also be fun to look back on OLW projects years later to see how much has changed.
I haven’t done a OLW scrapbook yet (I plan to in the future), but in 2019 I focused on the word “surrender” and in 2020 my word has been “growth”. God has definitely been teaching me so much in both of those areas!
2019 was filled with uncertainty and change – learning to surrender control (which is in a work in progress) has given me so much peace and that’s why I love the word “surrender”. As a Type A control freak, it’s not in my nature and it’s something I need to continue practicing.
For 2020, I chose the word “growth” because it’s been a year full of discomfort and growth – career growth, personal growth, and most importantly, spiritual growth.
Now, with the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s been about growth in all kinds of other ways I wasn’t expecting.
Need some ideas for your own OLW project?
There’s definitely something here for everyone. Here are 200 fantastic ideas!
- Awe
- Amazing
- Authentic
- Adventure
- Acceptance
- Alive
- Appreciate
- Awareness
- Available
- Abide
- Action
- Achieve
- Abundance
- Assurance
- Awesome
- Always
- Balance
- Beauty
- Believe
- Blessed
- Bloom
- Blossom
- Brave
- Breathe
- Beloved
- Bold
- Community
- Courage
- Curiosity
- Compassion
- Confidence
- Connection
- Contentment
- Challenge
- Capture
- Create
- Calm
- Cheer
- Cherish
- Change
- Cultivate
- Consider
- Commitment
- Clarity
- Delight
- Devotion
- Discipline
- Divine
- Dream
- Discover
- Embrace
- Encourage
- Explore
- Enjoy
- Experience
- Eternity
- Energy
- Excitement
- Enlighten
- Engage
- Effort
- Enough
- Empowered
- Faith
- Fearless
- Forgiveness
- Focus
- Flourish
- Fresh
- Freedom
- Forward
- Go
- Goal
- Gather
- Grace
- Growth
- Goodness
- Gentleness
- Give
- Generosity
- Glory
- Glorify
- Glow
- Guide
- Grit
- Hallelujah
- Habit
- Help
- Hope
- Happiness
- Humility
- Heart
- Holy
- Healing
- Intentional
- Inspire
- Imagine
- Inquisitive
- Illuminate
- Invigorate
- Joy
- Journey
- Kindness
- Know
- Leap
- Lead
- Light
- Listen
- Love
- Loved
- Learn
- Less
- More
- Mindful
- Maturity
- Magic
- Mend
- Motivate
- Nurture
- Now
- New
- Open
- Overcome
- Observe
- Optimism
- Pause
- Patience
- Passion
- Peace
- Positive
- Prioritize
- Potential
- Persist
- Play
- Pray
- Praise
- Perspective
- Question
- Quiet
- Relationships
- Refuge
- Renew
- Rise
- Recreate
- Rethink
- Reflect
- Reach
- Relax
- Rest
- Reconciliation
- Restoration
- Results
- Rejoice
- Rejuvenate
- Redeemed
- Sacred
- Serenity
- Seek
- Share
- Surrender
- Serve
- Simplify
- Slow
- Spirit
- Spirituality
- Soul
- Soulful
- Sparkle
- Shine
- Story
- Strength
- Sanctification
- Stillness
- Support
- Sweet
- Savor
- Sufficient
- Success
- Treasure
- Thrive
- Thoughtful
- Together
- Thankful
- Trust
- Teach
- Tranquility
- Transformation
- Truth
- Uplift
- Understanding
- Victory
- Vision
- Vitality
- Vulnerability
- Wisdom
- Worthy
- Wellness
- Worship
- Wonder
- Yes
Some of my favorites are: light, rethink, grace, enough, inspire, abundance, and believe.
I just might use those for future One Little Word projects!
How about you?
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