One Word; No Sentences
It’s been a pretty good start to the year. I’ve written nearly every day this year since the beginning. I’ve been preoccupied with rewrites, health issues, and a possible trip out of town. A few of my New Year traditions have gone by the wayside. However, I was reminded by a post by Calming the Chaos, an author I follow on Facebook, to choose my word of the year, and so, here we are.
When I saw her post asking, “What is your word for this year? Mine is Joy,” before I could even begin to think, my mind seemed to whisper to me, “accomplish.”
I scoffed at the word. I sputtered and muttered other words to myself aloud, trying to come up with my own word. I had a mind of my own. I could do this.
I usually pick a word of the year without even thinking of it in those terms. Every year, I choose a word for the name of my journal for the year. I write a letter to God, telling him of my aspirations, hopes, and dreams. Who better to tell then the one entity in the universe with not only the power to help me accomplish, there’s that word again, them, but the willingness to listen without judging me or scoffing at me as I had the word that whispered across my mind like the silken threads of Charlotte’s Web.
As I pondered other words, the whisper became insistent. Not one to be easily influenced, I thought of all the other words I’d chosen over the years: Prince, Emir, Tranquility, Solitary, and serenity. Last year’s journal was called Verisimilar. I thought about getting up and coming to the computer with my phone and looking up words, and apparently, my mind had had it because it was as if I could see the word in all caps and bold brilliant white block letters before my eyes, “ACCOMPLISH,” the Universe seemed to shout.
Okay, okay, I finally agreed, and posted my comment. Now, this all might seem crazy to you, but it happened to me. at first, I was not happy to have a part of my will trumped by an unseen entity, or in my case, unheard. I felt pressured into choosing a word all wrong.
I say this because I usually choose a word and then I study it. I use the thesaurus searching for that perfect word that aligns with what I want to say. I test the feeling of the word on my tongue. Say it, feeling the syllables and see if it resonates with my soul. One year, the first word I came up with was prayer. Then I thought blessings or blessed. Then, I looked up synonyms for prayer. The word utterance immediately resonated with me. I had my word. it was mine. ow owned it and felt right with it. Every journal entry was titled Utterance for the year with a subtitle of whatever I needed to say that day. Last year’s word Verisimilar came about somewhat the same way. Truth was the initial word, but Verisimilar resonated and I went with it.
However, this year was one of those times where I couldn’t really even try to change things around. Something inside me couldn’t even begin to veer from this word. it was if I was in the center of one of Freud’s sessions where you’re given a word and you’re made to list a word that comes to mind immediately without thinking, without effort. Free association was meant to make a person tap into their subconscious and make them come up with words that spark a nerve in them to help them tap into what makes them tick, or behave the way they do. I like using this tool because it also helps people associate their emotions with different types of triggers.
Well, the Universe decided to play therapist this year in its own way. I was given a prompt by a person I follow on social media, and the Universe coughed up a word for me. now, that’s what I call free association. I didn’t even have to work for it.
In all seriousness, the word accomplish, has grown on me. I like it. It’s what I’d like to achieve. It’s the word that gets me up in the morning to write during Shanta Grimes, Ninja Writer’s morning writing hour sessions. Her theory resonated with me, so I join them on the mornings I don’t have a doctor’s appointment. Accomplish is what makes me sit down and choose to work on my revisions instead of scrolling through social media posts or laying in bed with a really good book written by someone else who had the courage to write it and put it out into the world. So, I have my word for the year. I hope you find yours as easily as I did and with less resistance, so the Universe doesn’t have to slap you upside the head with it.
If you’ve found your word of the year, I’d love to hear what it is. And if you get a chance to check it out, follow Calming the Chaos on Facebook and look up Ninja Writer’s to see if you’d like to join the morning writing sessions. If you do, I look forward to writing with you!
Till next we meet,
Happy reading & keep creating! we’re going to have an AWESOME year!
Yours in love & magic!
Nell Anthony
Nell Anthony Webpage-; Dark Brilliance: The Circle
Amazon Author Page; Facebook; Twitter; Writers’ Mastermind Community
Nell Anthony 