Explain your choices
For each of the three mood words you chose in the previous exercise, spend some time today explaining why you chose them..
This is quite an important step because words can carry different weights and even different meanings, depending on who is reading them, and the context in which they are read.
We will be referring back to these mood words several times in the exercise to come, and you’re likely to continue doing so as your brand grows and evolves, so it is vital that you are very clear what they represent to you.
Take the word “slow,” for example, which I chose as one of the mood words for my “Naomi Loves” brand. I use this word to represent my journey towards a more considered and mindful lifestyle. But someone else reading the same word could just as easily assume it means I lack energy or motivation.
To demonstrate the idea or mood of “slow” when I write content for that brand, I deliberately weave other words like mindful, considered, organic, handmade, care, nurture and simple into my copy. All of those words, working together, help to share with my readers the mood I want them to feel from that one word I chose, “slow.”
Your explanation might simply be a second list of words. For example, if one of your words was “passionate,” you might list what that means to you. Maybe words like “soulful, energetic, all-in, and expressive” would help describe what you mean when you say “passionate.” (And remember - you don’t need to share this explanation in public).
Or you might choose to go deeper with your description, using examples or narratives to flesh it out. To explain my use of the word “slow,” I painted a picture with my words:
“A winter picnic, home-grown vegetables, family meals around the table, freshly baked bread, limiting your footprint, conversations over coffee. Slow living, for me, is simply about mindfulness; about appreciating that a good life is worth waiting for, working for, and caring for.”
Write the explanations for each of your words, or the descriptions of that they mean to you, in your workbook on page 24.