JOY! My Word of the Year!

Happy New Year Scraps of Color!

Each year on the SOC Message Board we are challenged to chose a word of the year.  The purpose is to chose a word which encompasses your goals for the year.  Well, finally today...I have chosen my word.  My word is JOY!  I think JOY encompasses who I am and how I live.  I simply want to continue to lead a JOYful life and share it with others.  My plan is to create several altered projects and/or find premade items that say JOY to place around my home to remind me daily of my JOY!


I found this online regarding JOY:

We feel joy when we appreciate life-when we contemplate nature, when we recognize our freedom, and when we dwell on our successful relationships with other people; we feel joy when we have faith in something larger than ourselves.

Joyful people are often healthy, both physically and mentally, they value strong positive relationships, and they don’t allow the extremes of life-sudden highs or sudden lows-to influence them unduly. Joyful people lead a more stable life. But these abilities do not just arrive; they have to be worked at.


I am JOY! ( I chose to share the above photo, from our New Year's Eve Party, because when I look at it, it fills my heart with warmth, emotion and what I define as an overwhelming feeling of JOY.  We look so happy and at ease.  It will no doubt find it's way onto a layout this year....I just haven't gotten to it yet.  LOL!)


How to lead a more JOYful life!
Because we now recognize the connection between emotional health and physical health, teaching ourselves to be joyful may be one of the greatest things we can do to enhance our overall health. However, it is important to understand that joy is an emotion that arises from within us and is not affected by the things that happen to us. Instead of looking for external things to provide happiness in our lives, we must strive to find the joy within. We must educate ourselves about joy and work to enhance it in our lives. One way to start is to make a decision to wake up every morning and find joy in our lives. Think about a special person or a devoted pet. Think about the joy derived from a bird’s call or the joy of a day in a forest. It is our choice to be joyful or fearful. Let’s take the time to train ourselves to be joyful-our lives will be both happier and healthier for it.

info. excerpted from alive.com

It brings my great JOY to bring you the premiere issue of Scraps of Color Magazine coming soon...February 2011.  Stay tuned!  It is chock full of love and inspiration!

My wish for each SOC reader is to have a happy, healthy, prosperous, creative and JOYful 2011!


Now, what is your word of the year? Share.