About that word. . .

Most years, I get a pretty distinct . . . nudge . . . about what my new “word” for the year is going to be way ahead of time (“time” being the beginning of the year, generally). Words will just kind of pop up in my head, and I just know when it feels right. And then I head off in that direction.

This year, though, I took a different approach to choosing my word. I was feeling more . . . directive . . . about what word I might choose. Instead of considering the various words that were beginning to bubble up in my head, I decided to go out and grab one for myself! I was anticipating that 2024 might be a rough year, emotionally, for me with all the news-of-the-world and the upcoming election and . . . All That. I was already feeling tired and worn out and discouraged by the relentless pace of terrible-ness. So I decided I needed a word that would serve me. A word like . . . nourish. (Yeah. That’s the ticket!) I wanted a word that would remind me to take care of myself, one that would encourage me to step back, one that would help me look for ways to hunker down and avoid the fray and just get through it. I decided it would be in my best interest to have a word like . . . nourish . . . in my back pocket!

But . . .

There had been this other word . . . waiting in the wings of my brain. For years, actually, this other word has been a “runner up” in my annual one-little-word sweepstakes. It’s a quiet kind of word. The kind of word that leaves me perplexed about where it might even be coming from. It’s a word I’ve considered in the past — but always put back on the “shelf” there in my brain . . . to maybe to be considered for some other year.

But not this year! Not for 2024! I had chosen my word and that word was . . . nourish! And just to “set it in stone” and make it “official,” I headed over to Liz Lamoreaux’s website to order my “word heart” for the year. I got to the part on the order form where I needed to type in n-o-u-r-i-s-h . . .

and without really thinking, I typed in w-e-a-v-e.
Which was the other word.
Y’know. The quiet one waiting in the wings!

So.
For some inexplicable reason, my word this year . . . is NOT nourish.
It is . . . weave.
Because I listened to that little voice in my head.
And now I have the heart to prove it!

Where this is going to take me, I have no idea. But I’m sure it will be an interesting experience.

(And probably just what I need.)

(But I’m still going to need to figure out a way to deal with . . . this year.)

 

 

 

“A good life is like a weaving. Energy is created in the tension. The struggle, the pull and the tug are everything.”
 — Joan Erickson