Looking back at 2018: Reflections on Bloom

Bloom. That was my word for the year. Its gentle energy felt like just the thing I needed after the intensity of Illuminate in 2017.

And gentle it has been. So gentle, that until I sat down to reflect on everything that happened in 2018, I didn’t fully realize the impact it has had on my year.

Bloom helped me to deepen my art practice. Not only did I spend much more time at the painty table during the year, my art practice grew in depth and meaning. I noticed an improvement in my technique; found new and interesting ways to fuse art and magic/spirituality; leaned much more heavily into art as therapy, as healing, and as self-inquiry.

Part of that move unfolded with my work with the moon cycles. Bloom nudged me to take a closer look at astrology; to merge astrology and tarot with the moon phases; and to use this knowledge to create tarot spreads that tap into the archetypes of the zodiac, to illuminate new pathways and foster a deeper understanding of my desires and motivations.

Which led me to create my first mini art journaling ecourse, Atomic Lotus. But just as the bud can sometimes be afraid to bloom, the elation of creating the course and the satisfaction of everything I had poured into it, gave rise to the dreaded imposter syndrome. Which meant that for the longest time, I didn’t really say much about the course. And even when I did, the emotion was muted and constrained. Bloom made me aware of the work I still need to do in this area, to be able to look at those fears in the eye and move forward anyway.

Bloom led me, too, to create a spoken word gratitude practice, which brought big and small shifts in my life – gently, gradually, but almost effortlessly. And through its gentle ministrations, I found my way to teachers and resources and books that helped me evolve and grow and bloom on my soul’s journey.

And finally, bloom gifted me with tiny new seeds; little kernels of ideas that I’m waiting to plant and see if and how they take wing.

The gifts of bloom were gentle and varied; but now our journey is coming to a close. It is time for me to embrace the pause as I discern the word that will guide me through 2019.

Do you choose a word of the year (WOTY)? Do tell me in the comments! And if you’ve written about your WOTY, do link up with Corinne here.

Need some help choosing a word of the year, or with making some delicious plans and goals and dreams for 209? I’ve got you covered!

Download your free copy of the Decoding the Year workbook. Just enter your email below, and I’ll pop it right over to you!

(Email box not showing up? Click here to download the workbook)