You might be reading this title and thinking what the heck does WOTY 2018 Fearless even mean? I’ll back up a minute and share more about the idea of the Word of the Year (or WOTY)…I began this practice years ago and over the last year I have embraced Acceptance.
This past year has taught me a lot about what it means to find self acceptance. I’ve come to terms with some of my deepest wounds, released some of my self judgement and worked to become more accepting of myself and others. Each year as I select a word (or a word selects me) I choose to embark on a process of discovery about how that word affects me, my relationships, my business, my mindset and more. This year I selected my word on my birthday (November 1) and was resoundingly reassured of this choice through the repeated symbol of the Shark. I found a very large Shark’s tooth on the beach while taking a walk on my birthday and shark has continued to show up in mysterious ways since then…including in an Animal Oracle reading I did with spirit animal cards (also on my birthday:).
Here are some of the my past WOTY’s over the years…you can read more about each year’s word here. I’ve been asked how I come up with the words I select, it’s a process of discovery and it’s become more intuitive over the years. Some people also use different terms, like One Little Word or Core Desired Feelings. As each word becomes a part of my life for a year, I don’t just leave them behind at the end of the year. I continue to deepen my relationship with each feeling and word over time even after the year with that word has ended. Each word I select becomes like a member of my family!
- I’ve found more Clarity (2011)-the year I redirected my career and became an organizer.
- I’ve learned to Soar (2012), as we embarked on moving to a new city and leaving the past (‘Sore’ness) behind.
- I’ve chosen to see myself as Radiant (2013), as I began to show up and be more visible in my community and my business.
- I’ve become more Playful (2014), despite challenges and obstacles we can always find fun:)
- I’ve discovered I always have a Choice (2015), especially in how I respond and react to life’s circumstances.
- I’ve found Harmony (2016) in the true sense of knowing that sometimes it comes with dissonance.
- I’m more Accepting (2017) of myself, my mistakes, my vast gifts-which I am learning to embrace and I am learning to be more accepting of others!
In 2018, the word I am embracing and hoping to embody in a more dynamic way is Fearless! To help me embrace a better understanding of fearlessness I used the Thinkmap tool (Visual Thesaurus)…so in becoming fearless I will be Audacious, Brave, Dauntless, Hardy, Intrepid, Unfearing and Unafraid (at times)! I would add that there must be a healthy sense of Adventure, a deep sense of Trust or Faith that all will turn out as it should and an ability to embrace Change.
Each Year when I select a word, or the word selects me! I discover a deeper understanding of that word in my life in ways I could not have imagined! For example, when I choose the word Soar, little did I know I would also be finding a deeper understanding of the same word, spelled quite differently with a totally different meaning. I learned to Soar about the Soreness of loosing beloved pets! I have had to find acceptance of more this year than I could ever have anticipated, with our current political environment there are so many people with ideas other than our own that we MUST learn to accept (or become further divided).
So each year as I carefully ponder what my word will be, there is a sense of excitement and a bit of trepedation…but this year I’m taking a big LEAP of faith and choosing to be (come) more Fearless than ever! Will I jump out of planes, walk on hot coals, learn to surf, speak in front of vast crowds, get a tatoo or eat strange foods? Who knows, you’ll just have to follow along to discover along with me how to become more fearless! No doubt I will still have many fears at then end of 2018 but it’s about the journey of discovery and what I learn about myself along the way…
Do you choose a word for the year? If not, do you have another practice that is part of your New Year ritual?
PS…I don’t do resolutions, do you?
I use my planner for appointments, tasks and goals. Some of you may only use a planner for appointments or may use a combination of two systems. Using more than one planner system can work for some people, just like using a paper planner may be best for some and digital works better for others. There are a lot of options to choose from so hang in there as I run through some of my favorite Planners in review here.
Most of us want to keep at least some photo’s to look at in frames, albums or loosely. But we don’t get to enjoy the photo’s we love because they are in a big jumble with the one’s we don’t care about, the duplicates, damaged photo’s and photos of people you have no clue about!
Label with temporary labels to keep track of what you have sorted, eventually permanent labels will be attached to bins or albums.
Sort photo’s chronologically and/or by event or person. Your system may be some combination of these. As you start the process of sorting and purging, think about other family members or friends who you might want to send photo’s to and set them aside (labeled) to give them when you’re done. If you’re not sure who someone is, snap photo’s of the photo’s as you go and text or email someone who might be able to help you ID them. It can be fun to share “vintage” photo’s with family and friends as you go! Keep track of what size the majority of your photo’s are and if you plan to organize into albums or boxes, this will be important to know.
Cross reference storage-Note in your photo box what negatives and digital photo’s you have copies of and where they are stored (on CD’s, cloud, external hard drive, separate bins etc).
