so what is the question….
Love…yes..that is the answer…
I was pondering what my “word” for 2018 would be for a few days…I couldn’t come up with one. I thought of a few but then discarded them like the wrapping paper from my Christmas presents. None of the words I came up with totally expressed exactly what I wanted to feel and project this year. Some felt right at first… but then didn’t after I let them sit for a bit.
Why, you ask is this “word” so important? Well let me explain it to you. I used to do the whole New Year’s resolutions thing and then at the end of January I had not accomplished even a single one and would just forget about them. This whole process made me feel like such a loser. Why couldn’t I keep my resolutions? Other people I knew could, why couldn’t I? I think maybe it was because there was so much pressure to do it that I decided I just couldn’t and stopped…before I failed.
I had heard about selecting a word…a single word that made you feel your word and react to it all year long. My first “word” was JOY! I needed some joy in my life at the time and decided it would be a good word for me. I experienced much joy that year and people in my life embraced it as well and helped me find my JOY… I am still tied to that word as I feel drawn to it somehow. It speaks to me. I think your “word” should do that.
“Words are all we have.” ~ Samuel Beckett
So back to the task at hand…picking one for this year. I knew what I wanted from this year…what I wanted this year to be about. I wrote what I wanted in my journal and here is what I wrote...I want to love what I am spending my time on…I want to love what I do….I want to love life again and feel like I am sending that out to the universe and hopefully get it back..I want to let all the people I love know how much I love them and show them…I want to show the love I had/have for my son and somehow use that love to honor his life. And then almost magically… there it was..It’s funny how for some reason I didn’t see it even though it was right there in front of me….the answer was LOVE.
Wow. It was so easy and I made it so hard. As I sat there pondering my word a blue jay flew onto my porch. He looked around and then he stared right through the window at me…shook his head and flew off. Yes, LOVE.. was truly my word. I believe in signs and that was a sign if I ever saw one.
Now onto what I want to gain from this “love”….I want to believe that all things are possible just like I did when I was a child. I know that sometimes they just aren’t.. but I want to believe they are. I want to love each day and look forward to what the day holds. I want to be open to any and all possibilities. I want to use all the talents and abilities I was born with and not waste them. I do love to write and I am doing that with this blog. I am so proud of the fact that I have continued doing this for almost 3 years now. I also love to make jewelry and have stopped doing that. I made a promise to myself to start making jewelry again this year.
I have tried and tried this past year, to come up with a way that would honor my son, Dave and that it would somehow make a difference in the world. I know that is no small undertaking but I hope to come up with a way to do both this year. It doesn’t need to be a huge earth shattering difference..however that would be great….a small one would do! If anyone has any ideas on how I could accomplish this, please leave your ideas in a comment below.
I am so grateful for finally finding my word for 2018! By the way, grateful was my word for last year. LOVE..isn’t is a beautiful word? Don’t you wish there was more of it in our world today? Maybe this could be a small step for us all to spread more love…I am certainly going to try! Do you pick a “word?” And if you do, what word did you pick?
“Words. So powerful. They can crush a heart, or heal it. They can shame a soul, or liberate it. They can shatter dreams, or energize them. They can obstruct connection, or invite it. They can create defenses, or melt them. We have to use words wisely.” ~ Jeff Brown
LOVE YA girlfriend. Great word. Wish there was more of it.
Me too Susie, me too! xoxo
Love, that covers it all! Wise choice! I’m still thinking about mine! My emotions are all over the place! Maybe I just need to be more patient and wait for it to come to me! It’s only January 5th!
Love you!
It took me a while too Joanie! It will come to you! LOVE you!
It’s a great word Renee and it’s wonderful that you want to honour your son’s passing and create a legacy. I’ll look forward to reading what you come up with. I hadn’t realized we’d been blogging for about the same amount of time (you seem so much more experienced than me!)
Thank you Leanne! I will write about it when I decide what I want to do to honor my son. And Leanne, you are the pro in my opinion…
LOVE is a wonderful word, as we sit on the brink of nuclear war. If only….if only we could only find a way out. Could love be the way?
I hope love is the way, Alana..we just need to start somewhere…it can start with us!
Hi Renee…I thought and thought, and unfortunately the word I USED most this past year, is a–hole. We spend a lot of time in the car and many drivers are clueless…did they really take the drivers test??? But seriously, my word will be empathy. More children should be taught this. Maybe there wouldn’t be so much bullying. Probably the problem with that is maybe some parents don’t have it to actually teach it. Did Dave hike at the park down the street, or like nature? Maybe make a little plaque and discretely place it by the falls.
Peg, spending time in the car and on the road does not lend itself to “Love”, that is for sure…I yelled and cussed quite a bit going down the road to work over the Christmas holidays…but now that’s over and I am ready to Love again…and Dave did love nature and the falls…good idea!
What an interesting and novel concept to encapsulate a new year with one word. The Beatles said it best in the last track of the Magical Mystery Tour Album. “All you need is love, love, love”. Unfortunately, then they commenced fighting with each other. However, love is a good word to use. My word would be commitment. I believe that if a person has a commitment to a relationship, to family and friends, and a belief that they will strive to become a better person in the new year. We all have our faults and minimizing their impact on others is, in my mind, a noble goal. A commitment to a spouse , children, family, and friends is predicated on love. I enjoy a wonderful relationship and believe that I am truly blessed. If others can attain some type of happiness and security in 2018, this would be a far better world. Thanks for your New Year’s blog.
Thank you Andy as always for your insight and comments! And you are right, if more people were committed to love instead of hate it would be a far better world!
LOVE is a great word always and I’m determined to spread more of it out there this year.
My dear friend lost his son and he is honoring him by holding a golf tournament every year called STEVENISM after his son Steven. The profits go to a program that supports children that have lost their fathers.
Of course, I don’t know what Dave liked but by bringing people that knew and loved him as well as people that know, LOVE and support you together it could be any kind of gathering to benefit either his children or a national program.
I wish you a LOVE in the New Year, and btw, I LOVE your writing.
Oh thank you so much Barbara! Your comments meant a lot to me…and I am thinking along those lines of a way to honor him…or a jewelry line I design…he loved making jewelry too!
Great choice–in the end all that matters is love. My word for the year is NOW. No more putting off what I want to say, do, and write.
Thank you Evelyn…and NOW is a wonderful word too!