"A (wo)man should hear a little music, read a little poetry, and see a fine picture every day of (her)his life in order that worldly cares may not obliterate the sense of beautiful God has implanted in the human soul."- Goethe















Tuesday, February 4, 2014

The Word for 2014

As much as I love setting up for Christmas, as soon as it is over, I love taking it down because my life seems so much simpler and cleaner.

This is the fourth year that I've picked a word to focus on for the whole year. If you're curious to know what my previous words were (and I hope you are! stay curious, my friends!) they were:

2011- Change
2012- Savor
2013- Fresh

And the word I am embracing for 2014 is... drum roll...



Peace, guys. Let's just say I have my reasons (like last year was ca-RAZY busy and we were pretty much all running around like kooks to the point of spontaneous combustion!) and I know this is something I (and my family) need this year.

There are many facets of this word that I can't wait to focus on and explore. Like, I want to invite calmness into my life... somehow. Still working that out. I want to focus on my tiny and oft-times neglected family more. I need to say no more often. I need to set aside time just to relax and not feel like I have to constantly be moving. I want to learn how to be a better peacemaker because it's not ever really been in my nature and it's about time I seriously considered it. That's what I'm hoping I'll embrace, but my yearly word has a marvelous way of revealing its layers to me in surprising and unexpected connections. Love it!

So far, living my word has been a huge relief! Like I stopped running a marathon long enough to realize I've been running the same marathon over and over nonstop. And let me tell you that stretching out feels amazing! My month has been restful and healthy. I'm focusing on making time for things I'm truly passionate about that have over time been pushed aside or replaced with projects for other people. 2014 is going to be a promising and incredible year, I can feel it!

I know picking a word for the year isn't for everyone, but it really is good for me. If you haven't done something like this before, I'd highly encourage it. It helps guide my year in a good direction, and keeps my focus healthy. And, it keeps me on track much in the same way new year's resolutions do for some people. Plus, after a year of honing in on all the magnificence a single word has to offer, it becomes a part of me. And the best part is that all of my previous words are compounded and an integral part of who I am and have helped round out my perspective of this crazy little planet a little bit at a time. This is a personal tradition and self-improvement ritual that I will probably continue for the rest of my precious life.

I've got to be honest: I've got some trepidation about this word, mostly because I find a lot of satisfaction from getting a lot done and doing things for other people, and knowing that I'm going to need to scale back on both of those things makes me a little nervous. But excited. But still nervous. So. Wish me luck on my word journey!

Are any of you embarking on a word journey for this year? If so, I'd love to hear what your word is and how it's going for you so far. If not, you can start one any time of the year, not just at the beginning of January! So put that in your pipe and smoke it, and consider all that a word could offer you if you adopted it for a whole year.

2 comments:

  1. I've never heard of this before but I think it's a fabulous idea. I'll have to think a bit and decide what the word for this year should be.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You are so good with words that I bet this would be something you would get a lot from! I'd love to hear what you decide to do.

      Delete