I actually picked (just one) Word of the Year!

Have you guys jumped on this trend? I’ve seen it all over the socials: choosing a “Word of the Year”.

I’ll admit, my first inclination was to make fun of the idea… I’m kind of an ass. But then I remembered that I actually respect a lot of these women who are doing it; also, I’m totally up for increasing self-awareness, and I love anything that empowers women. If I’m honest, my initial impression of new, trendy things is often wrong… see: every instance when I was younger when I said coffee or wine tasted “icky”.

So. Word of the Year.

The idea is pretty simple. You meditate or pray or talk to friends/family/folks who know you well (or all of the above) about what you want to achieve, prioritize, let go of, improve, invest in, focus on, learn about, see growth in, feel (or all of the above). Then, after you’ve brainstormed alone or with your loving think tank, you boil it all down to one word that captures the essence of all that. Most bloggers claim that a word will stick in your mind and you won’t be able to shake it.

Okay, so it’s not actually simple at all.  Especially not for a writer!

Frankly, I love words. All of them. Funny ones and smart ones and multisyllabic ones and naughty ones and empowering ones and brutal ones… they are life to me. I am also super partial to any words that I happen to write, and I usually adore how I string them together. Tiny caveat here, for any writers reading, I adore them unless I’m in editing mode, and then I’m convinced I’m illiterate and ridiculous and should never have pretended that I could write at all.

In any event, during my life-long love affair with words, I can truly say that it’s never happened — not even one single time — that I thought of just one lone word at a time. I use ALL THE WORDS, ALL THE TIME.

See my dilemma? I got hung up thinking, “I would love to be able to select just ONE WORD to guide me throughout 2019, but if I had the kind of skill and focus it evidently takes to decide The Word, then I probably wouldn’t need it! It’s like picking a favorite cupcake… who can do that?!”

Just as I was ready to scrap the plan to find my 2019 Word, it came to me, just like the bloggers said it would. It played over and over in my mind, it wouldn’t let go. The word? FINISH.

As in, finish what you start, Michelle. Follow through. Pull the trigger. Let it go. Sign off on the art, the project, the book. Finish it, already.

And loudest of all: FINISH choosing your damn word!

I think that choosing this word means that I’m going to have to be decisive this year. It means that I’m going to have to end things. To commit. To actually close chapters. To hit “publish.”

Wish me luck… I’m finishing out January by posting this, and I’m hoping to finish out the spring by releasing my next book. I have no clue what the rest of 2019 will look like, but I hope you’re there with me at the finish.

Maybe we’ll have cupcakes 🧁. Actually, we will definitely have cupcakes. (I’ll be real: I’m kinda regretting I didn’t choose cupcakes as my word, now.)

In love and laughter,

Michelle

OMG PS: I finished this in January. It is now April. I never hit “publish”… can you see how much I need my Word of the Year!?!

Leave a Comment