Sundry Wonders: Word of the Year

Word of the year

Last year, I had a word of the year, and that word was brave. I knew in my bones what I needed to do, and I needed a whole lot of bravery to do it. In other words, I also needed to act, which I suppose could have served as a secondary word of the year.

In 2022, I proved to myself that I am brave, and, if you’ve been following along with this adventure, you know that I certainly did act. I’ve never made a better decision for myself. I still grin when I think about it.

This year, however, I need a new word. I still need to be brave and to act, but I also want to channel those actions. I needed to do what I did, and now I also need a little more “do it on purpose” energy. So, my word of the year this year is intentional.

I took an online course couple of years ago with Pico Iyer, one of the world’s great travel writers. The class was called “On Travel and Stillness,” and it focused on Iyer’s rhythm of traveling out in the world and taking in breathtaking new experiences and then taking a time of stillness for himself to process his experience. He taught us through discussion how the two work together, and how much we need both.

I’ve thought about this approach a great deal in the time since, especially when I found myself in need of a time of reflection after so much experience this past autumn. How I need time to process, and how this process could help me to take my next steps in my journey with just as much bravery, but also with intention.

Today I shared my word in a creativity group I belong to, with women at various points on their creative journeys. We talked about the push and pull of creative life, of different seasons and our needs in those seasons.

Afterwards I walked with Ollie down to my sanctuary on the lake. Ice had just begun to form, reflecting the late afternoon clouds like a painting. I smiled again, thinking of my year before and thinking of the one beginning.