Every January I choose a word for the year. It’s a little ritual I do to invite in the energy I want to experience for the upcoming year. A kind of energetic anchor.
I spent some time today looking through my journals. I’d picked ‘solitude’ as my word for 2020 – and I certainly got a lot of that as the pandemic hit!
For 2021 my word was ‘balance’. And things did begin to balance out as I left my job to focus on my business and create a more sustainable work/life balance, one which allowed me the space to focus more on the things I enjoy.
This year, my word is ‘flourish’. As the end of December neared, it kept popping into my head and it just felt right, so I decided it was a keeper.
Flourish
On my walk today, I began to reflect on my word and realised that I’m already creating the perfect conditions to flourish this year.
The start of the year has felt very different to previous years, I don’t feel like I’ve rushed into it. Instead, I’ve wanted to stay tucked up in my cozy, post-Christmas cocoon.
I’ve worked with this energy and have allowed the pace of my days to slow. As a result, I’ve been waking up later, making time to read and do things that I enjoy, and can often be found in my pjs by 6pm.
I’ve also been focusing on what I put into my body – drinking plenty of water and consuming lots of wholesome, home-cooked meals. I still workout, but I’ve shifted gear and now do this at a slower pace. After a couple of weeks, I’m starting to feel the benefits.
When we want something to flourish we need to do the work and ensure that we provide the correct conditions for it to grow and thrive. And I realised today that’s exactly what I’ve been doing. Not intentionally, but just by tuning in to how I feel and going with the flow.
I’ve enjoyed shutting out the external noise and turning inwards for a while. Withdrawing my energy from a place of doing and just being. It’s an interesting space to be in as it’s not somewhere that I’m very familiar with. Tending, instead, to be very goal orientated.
What lies ahead?
I’m not sure. At the moment I’m happy to just be. It’s very unusual for me not to have a plan or an external goal that I’m working towards but it feels right to be in this place at the moment. Maybe I achieved more balance last year than I realised.
One commitment I have made is to work through this for the next 90 days. It feels exciting, I’m only a week into it but it takes you gently by the hand and guides you through the process day by day. I love the expansiveness of it and creating space to dream.
Aside from that, I’m enjoying the spaciousness and slower pace of living, focusing internally instead of externally for a while.
What’s your word for the year?
Do you choose a word for the year? If you don’t, maybe 2022 is the year you give it a try. Is there a word that sums up something you’d like to achieve? Or maybe represents how you’d like to feel or show up in the world?
If not, allow the idea to simmer for a few days and see what word comes to you. Listen carefully to your thoughts and see what shows up. Pay attention to what’s going on in the world around you too, you never know when your word could come and tap you on the shoulder.
Once you have your word, write it down somewhere. You don’t need to chant it daily or anything like that (but you could if you want to). Just bear it in mind and watch as it begins to work its magic!
Image courtesy of Zoltan Tasi