I’ve been picking a word of the year for 11 years now (counting 2023). Just for fun, I took a look back at my word choices:
Way back in 2012, my word was No. It was a time of lots of PTA volunteering, I think. And I was done.
I suppose it makes sense that the following year, I chose present for my word.
Then, there were a few years of less than memorable word choices. The words were nice but I didn’t do too much or think too much on them. Some years are like that and it’s okay.
Here’s a brief list of words for the years 2014-2016.
2014:Action
2015:Chapter
2016:Celebrate
The year of 2017 was a doozy with me choosing a whole phrase for the year:
Rediscover, Revive, and Renew
Yeah, no pressure with that choice. Can you see me rolling my eyes behind the computer here?
Just a Few More
I think my favorite of all my words of the year, occured in 2018. The word Embrace just worked wonders for me. And if I recall, 2018 was actually a pretty good year.
Did you know you can change your word of the year if it’s not working for you? My words, my rules. Ha. I did change my word in 2019. Started with the word Time. Oh, the pressure of that word. I felt it almost immediately. My second attempt worked so much better and I saw things so much clearer from a perspective of Gratitude.
While 2020 wasn’t in any way humorous, the word of the year I picked ended up being one of those situational comedy kind of choices. Why not pick the word Home and then have a worldwide pandemic that forces you to be there. SIGH.
Less in 2021 seemed like a good idea at the time. By the way, I guess the family does kind of notice things after all. “Oh, look the Christmas presents under the tree look like it used to be” spoken by G on Christmas Eve after I had hardly anything under there in 2021 because of my word of the year. And less was fine but it’s not me.
And then for the past year of 2022, my word was Heal. Started out okay but honestly, I kind of fizzled out on it. Lots going on in the household. However, I do think from a mental space, I did find myself dealing with and having a few points of clarification. Let’s see how vague I can be, huh? Anyway, it wasn’t the greatest word but it wasn’t terrible either.
My 2023 Word Deserves Another Post
I’ve found a wonderful word for 2023 but I want it to be another post. After all with 363 days of posting to go, I think I have the space.
A few words I considered for this year: Space, Wait, Air, Relish, Anticipate, Breathe, Timing.
Yet none of those quite captured what I wanted for this year. There’s a hint about my word in this post.
Do you pick a word for the year? Or have a guess what my word of the year is going to be?
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Day 3 of 365
Do you actually do the Ali Edwards ‘One Little Word’ thing? I tried to get into it several years ago, plunked down a bunch of money for an album and supplies and membership, and never even got past making a cover page for January. I also tried to get into Project Life style of memory keeping, again paid a chunk of money for albums, pages, cards . . . and couldn’t do it. I’ve never been into scrapbooking but my creative energy just keeps looking for an outlet!
If I were to choose a word for the year it would either be Relax or Reduce. Or maybe Getmycraptogether. 😛
Oh no, I don’t spend money on any of that kind of stuff. Closest I got is one year doing a free (keyword free) printable artwork of my word. Think that last choice is a full on sentence 😉 I like both the other words though. Relax seems nice. And wouldn’t most of us like to Reduce?
I LOVE that you actually used the word NO one year! Good for you. I think sometimes you can volunteer too much (at least for one thing) 😀
I think that may have actually been my very first word of the year ever. What a way to start! It did help me get better at saying no to things I didn’t really want to do without the need to explain myself. Definitely a skill that takes practice.
When you first start using the word NO, it is quite liberating isn’t it? Hahahah
I don’t do words or resolutions, but it’s fun to see what others pick.
It really is. Kind of like a muscle, I think, it gets easier to do the more often you say it. I always enjoy seeing what others pick as well.