Beginning WEverb 2011: Words for 2011 & 2012

Although I didn't participate in the month-long Reverb10 daily writing prompts, I loved reading everyone else's posts reflecting on their lives and hoping for their futures. My friend Kim has organized this year's "WEverb11" and since my blogging has been a little...umm...stagnant...over on my little ol' personal blog as of late, I thought this would be just the push I need to do a little writing! And I'm always a sucker for personal reflection and goal setting :)

So today's prompt is:

Encapsulate the year 2011 in one word. Explain why. Imagine it's one year from today, what would you like the word to be that captures 2012 for you?

My word for 2011 is PROGRESS. 

This year has been an absolutely astounding one in our professional lives. Both Dan and I have made enormous steps towards our career aspirations, and after how hard we've busted our asses in this city since we've been here, that's no small thing to say.

Dan landed his first full-time casting gig four months ago, complete with awesome benefits and paid time off (which we will soon be taking advantage of for our New Years cruise to the Bahamas!). I worked on my first Equity show, which made me eligible to join the union; launched my showbiz blog called The Green Room Blog; and went on the first audition that my agent got for me. Suffice it to say, this year was huge for us.

I'm hoping that as 2012 draws to a close, my word will be BALANCE.

Although this year has been amazing for us in many ways, it's also been a bit of a struggle in some ways, too. We've spent a lot of time apart because we've been enjoying such career success, and we've transitioned from having weird, sporadic, any-hours survival jobs to Dan being a regular 9-5'er (okay, 9-9'er...) and me running my own businesses. Like...we get weekends together? What are we supposed to do on Friday nights that isn't work? You mean, we have to be up at the same time every day? 

The latter half of this year has been a little tough on things like the general cleanliness of the corner behind the couch and, oh, our relationship. We still love each other like mad, of course. And the dishes usually don't pile up too high. But next year, I'd like to place more emphasis on being successful in our careers AND working our way back to the relationship/household/general life contentedness that we felt in 2010.

Overall, 2011 was a fantastic year. Really, 2011, you've been swell. But there's always room to tweak things here and there :)

If you'd like to join in on the daily writing prompts, click on over to WEverb11 and join us! Or follow along on twitter using the #WEverb11 hashtag!