2011 Word Of The Year
Those of you who've been reading my blog for a while know that I like to select a word each January to symbolize my aspirations for the coming year. While this is not at all an original idea (countless creative sorts online do the same), it has often played out in interesting and unexpected ways.
Little did I know, for example, when I chose last year's complimentary words, "persistence and patience" just how important my need for those two qualities would become as I was tested repeatedly by the craziness which life kept throwing at me. I had those two words stamped on a necklace which became a talisman...giving me strength each time I wore it. I'm so very glad I had my words to focus on as I took on each new challenge. I know they helped me to get through it all with more grace than I might have otherwise mustered.
Of course, that meant that my selection for 2011 needed to be chosen with great care.
Oddly enough, for the first time since I began this word experiment, I had trouble settling on a word this time. A conversation with a good friend a few weeks ago actually brought a new word into the mix. I sat on it for a while, testing out the word to see how well I could live with it, and in the end that new word felt more right than any of the others.
Without further ado, I present 2011's Word:
Which makes it all the more interesting to note that even though I could see the problem I've never managed to fix it. I'm a girl of extremes, and perhaps it's time to change that.
This will definitely give me something to think about in 2011.
Little did I know, for example, when I chose last year's complimentary words, "persistence and patience" just how important my need for those two qualities would become as I was tested repeatedly by the craziness which life kept throwing at me. I had those two words stamped on a necklace which became a talisman...giving me strength each time I wore it. I'm so very glad I had my words to focus on as I took on each new challenge. I know they helped me to get through it all with more grace than I might have otherwise mustered.
Of course, that meant that my selection for 2011 needed to be chosen with great care.
Oddly enough, for the first time since I began this word experiment, I had trouble settling on a word this time. A conversation with a good friend a few weeks ago actually brought a new word into the mix. I sat on it for a while, testing out the word to see how well I could live with it, and in the end that new word felt more right than any of the others.
Without further ado, I present 2011's Word:
Balance
Interestingly enough, the concept of balance has always fascinated me. Part of the reason I have a minor in Classical Greek (the language) was that I had been so very drawn to that ideal in mythology. (Phaedra comes to mind.) A lack of balance was always what got the protagonists in each story into so much trouble....and that was a lesson I could easily apply to my own life as I could see where my own lack of balance was throwing me off kilter.
Which makes it all the more interesting to note that even though I could see the problem I've never managed to fix it. I'm a girl of extremes, and perhaps it's time to change that.
This will definitely give me something to think about in 2011.
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