Reflections: A Retrospective

“The retrospective glance is a relatively easy gesture for us to make.” George Crumb

Reflections: A Retrospective – 2016 in pictures and more

Reflections: A Retrospective – 2016 in pictures and more

HAPPY NEW YEAR! 2017

HAPPY NEW YEAR! “Write it on your heart that every day is the best day in the year.” Ralph Waldo Emerson #happynewyear #happy2017

A Retrospective: CREATIVITY – Even though the idea of a retrospective often makes me feel like I’m attending a wake of sorts, it is a time to look back and reflect on what we accomplished. It is a time to share highlights and insights on our successes, failures, surprises, and even missed opportunities. From a blogger’s perspective, I’m particularly drawn to what helped shape and sustain our creative expressions this year. 2016 was a tough year, and blogging provided a much-needed creative outlet, consistency, and focus. Because I set an intention not to veer from my blogging efforts and focused on the Motivation Mondays posts to encourage me, as well as others, I would have to pinpoint that as my most cherished blogging achievement this year.
READ: Motivation Mondays: POSSESSIONS
Motivation Mondays: The Holiday Season
COMMUNITY: I participated in many blogging groups and social media sites, stayed on course with most Discover Challenges and Weekly Photo Challenge prompts, and secured some great sponsorships. My commitment to these communities and sponsors, the generosity of my visitors, my silent and vocal readers, and the effort of my tireless Virtual Assistants made it all work. So mega thanks to ALL of YOU!
READ: Motivation Mondays: FRIENDSHIP
Motivation Mondays: UNITY
INSPIRATION:  I find my greatest inspiration in nature, in finding great quotes and photos that complement a post, and in the stories people share about their lives; both their successes and struggles. The collages above are an ode to all of my Discover Challenge posts. I find inspiration in my children, my siblings, and my friends, whose insights often shape my posts. I love the written word and the challenges that haiku writing offers, so those are also channels of inspiration. When I sit down to write a post, I always think about how it will add a positive spark to another person’s day.

I look for pictures that remind me of the beautiful planet we inhabit, and I hope they offer some relief from all the terror and pain we see and experience in this world. I love flowers, sunrise, and sunset. I love smiling faces and color; lots of color. I find winter a beautiful season to watch from the safety of a warm room with picture windows. Going outside is another story, especially in the snow. I tolerate winter but understand its charms. So these are some of the things that inspire my writings. What inspires yours?
READ: Motivation Mondays: ABUNDANCE
Motivation Mondays: WINNING
More Below!

“It is a simple but sometimes forgotten truth that the greatest enemy to present joy and high hopes is the cultivation of retrospective bitterness.” Robert Menzies

Reflections: A Retrospective – 2016 in pictures and more

Reflections: A Retrospective – 2016 in pictures and more

NUMBERS: Number-wise, I posted three times a week, with a few extras tossed in for good measure, so my grand total is 163 times. Yes, I’ve included this coming Friday, which will be the last post for 2016. I posted 52 weeks of Motivation Monday posts and Weekly Photo Challenge prompts and loved every moment of it. With 23 Haiku, 28 Discover Challenge Posts, and several other extra posts, the year is ending on a stellar note for me. Would I have wanted to post more? Absolutely not. I don’t think posting daily is for me at all, since I like to take time to develop my posts and think them through.

Plus, it takes enormous effort to get all the social media promotional work together and do sponsored work and have a life…. You get the picture? I’m grateful for the work I already do and plan to tweak it a bit for 2017 but not post more. Stats-wise, I’m glad I’m now well over the 1 million mark, with 24K additional comments this year alone (21+K of them still in moderation); I’m glad the effort is bearing fruit. One thing I won’t do in 2017 is hold all my comments in moderation. I promise to approve everything I have now by January 7th. In the coming year, I will approve them much faster… sigh, and thank you!
READ: Motivation Mondays: Women’s Equality Day #Quotes
Motivation Mondays: PREPARED
ASPIRATIONS: What I plan to accomplish in 2017: I have several creative ideas in the works and will explore them fully. I plan to connect more and attend events that will help my blog and business grow. Travel is still dear to my heart, so I plan to pick it up again. I plan to do more of my own photography while enjoying the public domain gifts of photography on Pixabay and Wikipedia. I will create more collages with Pixlr Express, PicMonkey, and other photo-editing tools.

Letting go of deep-seated fears is something we can all relate to. I’m not talking about surface fears, but the ones we aren’t even aware of… I will fear less! I connected with a lovely lady who will help me shape this blog in a more dynamic, professional way, so I need to earn more in 2017 to meet my blogging and personal goals. Now that I have a business account on WordPress, I have access to tremendous tools that I will explore and use in 2017. Above all, my family, faith, and friendships are key to who I am, and they will continue to take center stage in my life: I will give more, read more, learn more, fear less, grow more … and stay grateful. What about you?
READ: Motivation Mondays: FEAR
Motivation Mondays: RELAXATION
This post was inspired by a Discover Challenge prompt: Retrospective. This week, can you pull all the strands of your 2016 together before diving into the new year? We’re asking you to look back over your past years’ worth of blogging (or however much you have, if your blog is less than a year old). You can publish a roundup or best-of post, but I encourage you to push a little harder and find a way to build on or synthesize your best 2016 work. Here are some tips
Build on your most popular post, or the post you’re proudest of — if other people loved it and/or you’re proud of it, you probably have more to say!
Create a collage using images and text from your favorite or most popular posts.
Take the text from your ten most-read posts and create a word cloud from it. Publish your word cloud in a post, and reflect on what it means and how you’d like to see it change by the end of 2017.
Review your most-viewed tags or categories, and publish a post using your five most popular ones. How can you bring these popular topics together into one narrative, or one photo, or one sketch?
Write a found poem using lines from your ten favorite posts.
If you don’t feel like returning to your work, try any of these ideas using the posts you found most compelling in 2016; look back over posts you’ve commented on or liked.
As we get ready for a new year, it’s always good to remember where we’ve been. To help other participants and new fans find your response in the Reader, tag your post #DiscoverWP. Not sure how to add a tag? Learn more.

Positive Motivation Tip: Stay focused on your own game and give it your best.

PHOTO CREDITS/ATTRIBUTIONS: All Photos: From Public Domain photos on Pixabay and my Personal Collection

Until Next Time…
Ask. Believe. Receive. ©
Elizabeth Obih-Frank
Mirth and Motivation
Positive Kismet

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