Word for 2017 | Simplicity
Earlier this week a blogger I follow on Instagram was talking about setting a word to guide the new year. I thought that it was the cool and trendy thing to do. You know those things that pop up every new year telling you what resolutions to set or how to tackle the year and you do the work and forget about it 2 months later. Ya I thought it was one of those, so pushed it to the back of my mind I mean how in the world do you choose only one word to describe an entire year. But tonight it just came to me and was so crystal clear what my word needed to be. I was sitting on the couch scrolling through my Pinterest inspiration boards and was deleting things that weren't different/unique or I didn't make me feel something. As I dwindled my Pinterest boards down to a handful of images I realized how easy it was to get rid of the images I no longer liked. Discarding the old. Decluttering. Starting fresh. Creating something new. It was a freeing experience and gave me clarity for what's to come.
That is my word for 2017 in every aspect.
Last year I started to get into the idea about minimalism and really connected with it. The more I read about it the more it made sense. And it can go so much deeper than I ever thought. On the surface it can be about creating a minimalist wardrobe or household, but on a deeper level its about simplify things to allow space for what's truly important: relationships, people, experiences, emotion, faith. When you don't have things to hide from you are forced to face what is actually happening in real life.
I always want my photos to show emotion and reflect my couples true personalities, but sometimes it can get easy and too comfortable to take the "easy" route and just put my couple in a pose that looks good. But I don't want my photos to be described as cute and perfect. I want them to be described as real, emotional, genuine, and imperfect. I want your heart to smile when you look at the photo and give you those little feelings deep in your gut.
I know you're thinking okay Brooke that's great, but how does that relate to simplicity? Like I mentioned earlier, when you take away all stuff that doesn't matter like outfits, location, poses and release the judgement you are left with the couple. Just them and their story, relationship and experiences. That's when you can truly make an impact.
That's what I want for 2017. Simplicity.
I say all of this like it is an easy task, but it is far from. We are surrounded daily by distractions and things trying to pull us away from what really matters. We spend hours a day on social media surrounded by things and objects. So I write this post for you all to read and hold me accountable. I'll be sharing more of my goals that tie into this, but for now I'll keep it simple :)
Did you create a word or phrase for the new year? What would yours be? I'd love to hear about it in the comments!
XOXO
Brooke