It sounded like such a simple thing: pick a word as a guiding principle for the year. One that would lead to a worthy destination. I believe I originally discovered the idea on Ali Edward's blog, and it was reinforced on Christine Kane's blog. Or maybe it was the other way around. Regardless, it's an idea that struck a chord and caught on with a whole bunch of us here in blogland.
I'm a big believer in choosing "one little word", after all, for years now our family word has been believe; just one look at our mantle and you'll see our collection which began during Christmas of 2000 (the holidays are a brilliant time to collect that particular word - just in case you're looking).
The hardest part of the exercise was settling on a word! It took a bit of time, there are so many that were applicable at this time last year: change, trust, savour, enjoy, courage, soar, curiosity, breathe, nurture, clarity, time, focus, discover, patience, shine, prosper, journey, learn, dream. All of them relevant in some way or another to my chaotic life raising four energetic kids. Probably relevant in yours, too!
I decided on balance.
I thought it was perfect. Attainable. Certainly something absent in my life: a place I needed to be in order to see where I wanted to go. I thought of the word balance every single day of 2009.
It was not the right word.
The problem is that perfect balance is equal to perfect stagnation. To be balanced puts you in the middle of the see-saw, going nowhere, not even moving up or down, just perfectly centred. Accomplishing nothing more than what you've already attained. No moving forward. No moving backward. The idea of balance wasn't helping me, it was reinforcing my paralysis. What I needed was energy, creativity, inspiration, creative spark, electricity, joy, movement ... forward.
At the same time, I crave the calm of a centred spirit, but to be an effective parent, friend, daughter, sister, wife; at this point in my life, calm and balanced is not where I need to be. I don't need to be frantic either. But certainly not inert.
As I travel around my virtual home, I see that a number of people went through the same exercise and are writing up their 2009 word reviews. Fascinating stuff! Christine Kane has invited a number of readers to post about their experience and it makes for great reading.
Right now, I'm in the midst of deciding on my new word. Have you chosen one word for 2010?
