Dear Reader:

 
In Debbie Macomber’s book: One Perfect Word she takes time, at the end of every few chapters, to share ideas on fun suggestions and/or ways to remind ourselves, on a daily basis, the importance of the “perfect word” we have chosen for this year. She calls these short paragraph tips…WordPlay.

The beautifully decorated plaque in the title photo (from Etsy) is an example of one “Wordplay”  suggestion to remember our chosen word(*I love the gem beading)….and simply by putting it in a place we see each day, we have a reminder of the change we want to make in our lives. It can be quite simple…just a small plank board or piece of wood with painted letters of our 2017 perfect word.

Here is a list of some of her WORDPLAY ideas…perhaps one or more of these might be something you are interested in pursuing. If you create a WORDPLAY please take a picture or share the activity you did (in order to remind yourself of your chosen word) with the rest of us. Would love to share your ideas.

The mail arrived yesterday afternoon before I started today’s blog. I had just completed the book “One Perfect Word” and had already decided to share the WORDPLAY ideas from the book when I opened a package from Honey and there was a miniature sculpture she had gotten for me. As you can see below it is a little girl holding two fingers to her lips as if silencing herself to be silent and listen. My God Wink for sure!

1. Take a small notebook and keep a record of the number of times you hear your ‘perfect word’ in a day or week or whatever chosen allotted time you wish. You can even count the number of times you see the word in written print within a certain time period.

2. Paint or even have a large stone cut with your word on or in it…could use a smaller one as a paperweight or larger stone as a doorstop. If you stub your toe on the doorstop, you can remember your word while hopping up and down…in between the four-letter ones you are thinking of…:)

3. If you are a tactile learner…why not find a symbol of your word and carry it with you like a good luck charm or a worry stone.

The famous author, Lewis Carroll, author of Alice in Wonderland, would note a particularly memorable day in his journal as a “White Stone Day.” Then he would take a smooth, white stone and add it to the stones in a very large clear jar. It was said at the of his life he stared at the considerable pile of stones in his jar and realized how blessed he had been.

4.  Charms on a charm bracelet with all the “perfect words” engraved that you choose each year really come into full meaning after many years of this practice… and remembered each time you look at your charm bracelet.

http://www.bonboncharms. com

5. How about garden stepping stones created with each ‘perfect word’ …adding a new stepping stone each year. http://www.etchedcreations.biz

6. The sense of smell is one of our most important sensory outlets to the past. Select a favorite candle scent and then have the perfect word painted or stenciled on the candle so every time you light it and smell the wonderful aroma it reminds you of your word.

*I thought of this idea…I got my favorite glass candle…put a black sticker label around it, writing LISTEN in chalk….it doesn’t cost any money and it does the same thing…as I smell the aroma of this lemon-scented candle I calm down and turn on some music and just listen.

7. Give the Christmas gift of a personalized Christmas tree ball ornament with a friend’s perfect word painted/stenciled on it…the perfect gift for your friends and yourself.

8. Make a collage cover of the perfect words you love and then re-cover an old book cover…replacing the pages with blank ones…then put all your perfect words in it…along with re-telling  the year of the perfect word and the reason behind the selection.

So until tomorrow…when you concentrate on your chosen word it suddenly seems that the perfect word keeps popping out everywhere….When I found this wooden saying on the internet I knew that one day it will be in my garden. It touched me so.

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh.