Choosing a Word for 2014 or Whatever

www.raintoday.com

I like to think I am very good at choosing words in general, but when it comes to specific things, like choosing a word for a year, or a life, well then I get a bit stuck.  I loved the book Eat, Pray, Love, almost more than I care to admit, but that’s another story… However for this story, the pertinent part is that Elizabeth Gilbert talks about finding a word that defines you*.  This week, as I have wandered the blog world I have become a part of, I’ve seen numerous posts with people proclaiming their WORD for 2014.  Crap!  I have to come up with a word again!  A word that will define my year,  that is a lot of pressure, what if I choose the wrong word?

www.webexhibits.org

Can there be a wrong word?  Well, I guess if I chose fail, or garbage or burn, those might set the wrong tone, but I can’t think of anyone who would make that obviously poor a choice.  Some contenders are cook, soar, give, love, brave, imagine, leap, move.  All good enough words I’m sure, but I’m just not feeling compelled to make a choice.  My life has been a rich map of roads and crossroads, many times I wasn’t even aware that I was at a crossroads, and other times though I did realize my situation I had no idea of the import of that choice until months or years afterwards.

As I stand at the starting line of 2014 I feel refreshed, energized and positive about the choices I am making, and about the path I have chosen. The universe (with some participation on my part) has been very generous with me, and I am aware of how fortunate I am.   Choosing a word may feel exactly right to many people, and I admire them, and applaud and savor their processes (as they share them).  I have never chosen a word to start a year, and I’m feeling fine about continuing that trend.  My choice is to choose all the words, as many as I can fit into my life, as many as I can write and share, and convince you are worth reading!  I choose to cook, to soar, to give, to love, to be brave and strong, to imagine, and take leaps of faith, and otherwise, and to keep moving; moving forward, moving furniture, moving mountains, molehills and myself.

I feel a bit abashed at posting this five days into 2014, but then again I still have 360 more days to go, and five is just a drop in the annual bucket! 

*After seeing EPL my friend Corrine and I had a lively discussion about ‘our words’ .  I thought my word was search, she said it was joy, and though I didn’t come up with it myself, I liked it so much I kept it!   JOY is my word for life, and so for every year, month, day and minute, as long as I can hold on to joy no word can ever replace it!

www.thelovelymosaic.com –