It’s that time of year again. Time to choose your word to set the tone for next year (if you do that kind of thing). Forbes has already declared resilience is the word for 2021. That’s perhaps a little on-the-nose, but they’re not wrong. Meanwhile, other groups work backward and choose a word that sums up the previous year. For example, dictionary publishers like Merriam-Webster chose quarantine, pandemic, and doom-scrolling as the words that best describe 2020.
I’ve embraced the practice of choosing a word to focus on throughout the year – more of a touchstone or inspiration for things I want to work on and the kind of year I want to have. I know this practice has been around for a while, but I only learned about it a few years ago, listening to the podcast Happier, which turned out to be a little too happy for me, but I’m grateful I picked up this and a few other habits.
In 2019, I chose the word ENDURE. Scroll back through my blog posts and it’s not difficult to see why. In 2020 I chose MORE for all the things I wanted to add (or, more accurately, add back) to my life. Knowing my love of crafting and making and such, my therapist challenged me to make a vision board and flesh out that goal. But since the way I create is a little here and a little there, I didn’t think a board would work well, so I ended up making a vision book.
The meditative aspect of adding to that book throughout the year was exactly what I was looking for. Turns out I needed the homework. Because there was no moment when I was “done” with my vision, it expanded, stayed top of mind, and became a project I enjoyed looking at as much as I did adding to it.
The book is filled with things that make me happy (and who wouldn’t want MORE of those?) – from pictures of things I love to meditative doodles that required nothing more than filling the space. There are several pages where I practiced a technique I saw elsewhere and magazine pages tucked in to inspire me later. There are only a few blank pages left and I may leave them blank as reminders there’s always room for more MORE. Oh, and at this point, I’m thinking that’ll be my word for 2021. I want MORE MORE.
If you’re curious what my book looks like, scroll down and enjoy this glimpse inside. Then, I would love it if you would share your word for 2021 in the comments!
