My 2023 Word of the Year – Integrity

Finding my Work

I don’t choose a word of the year every year. Sometimes nothing really jumps out at me.

And some years the year becomes obvious immediately.

This year it was a bit of an evolution.

We have a topic each month in the MakeBigArt Community. It helps guide a part of our conversation for the month.

The topic for January has been Integrity. Both personal and artistic integrity. It’s been a most excellent conversation and I’ve had a lot to think about.

When I asked the community if they had picked a word for the year, I didn’t have one in mind for myself.

And then it slowly dawned on me – my word needed to be integrity. And so it is.

This is the definition of integrity I’m considering: The state of being whole and undivided

Back in 2014 /2015 I decided I was going to remove all mention of teaching and coaching from my art website and put it all over on my makebigart website.

I did this because I wanted to just talk about my artwork and being an artist over here on my art blog. I was worried my art was getting lost in the middle of the writing my workshops.

It sounds like a good idea on paper.

But the in practice it simply did not work. I never knew where to draw the line between topics. Should it go on blog A or blog B.

So I’d just think through an entire blog post and never actually write as I wasn’t sure where to put it.

I also created a separate newsletter and a separate social media presence for all of that.

Egads – what was I thinking! I never ever found the time or energy to keep up both.

So no more – in 2023 it will all come back together and live under 1 roof – here on lisacall.com

My teaching is an extension of my creative process – I want to feel whole and undivided in that world again.

So Integrity it is.

And quite nicely – the circles I’ve been using in my artwork make for a perfect reminder of my word of the year. Circles being the perfect symbol of wholeness.

A few favorite quotes…

“It takes courage to create a meaningful life of integrity. It also requires good company. And practice.”

~Shelley Francis

“If you don’t walk your true path, you don’t find your true people. You end up in places you don’t like, learning skills that don’t fulfill you, adopting values and customs that feel wrong.”  

~Martha Beck

And to that end – the MakeBigArt community are my true people that help me walk my true path. Practice practice practice is exactly what we do. And support each other.

If you are looking for an online community of artists working on living a life of integrity – we’d love to have you join us. From beginners to exhibiting artists – all are welcome – we learn and grow and support each other.