It’s a new year, and our first week in a year long calligraphy challenge. Each week a prompt is provided by a group member and we have three weeks to produce a piece according to the prompt. Some prompts are very specific, others wide open. For this first week of the year we were asked to only use letters (no graphics) to express ‘ New Year’. I thought of all the different ways to say ‘new’. I cut out a template for the word new and then utilized thirteen different black pens of various inks to write the text.
The word new evokes excitement, anxiety, hope and a bit of fear. ‘New’ forces us to change and adapt as we do not know exactly what will come out way. And new things are shiny, clean, unspoiled and ready for use. Many, many people set new goals, rethink, clear up, clean out and even update something in their appearance. There s something exhilarating about things that are new.
Hopefully new things last long enough to become cherished and passed along to the next generation. Stories, jokes, even furniture that was once new can still provide a gift to those experiencing them decades after their shine has worn off. We were all new babes once with our entire future in front of us. As we look forward to another new year let us bask in our accomplishments, forgive our mistakes and hope that this new year is full of joy and shine.
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