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| Thanks to Cynthia for the pic! |
In the blogosphere (i.e. the world o’blogs) it has become trendy and hip to determine your theme or word of the year. Actually, my friend and colleague Michelle Barry Franco has been doing this for years. The concept is that each year rather than a resolution or intention you have an over arching theme that you want to work on or work towards. I admit I have hesitated to participate–mostly because it has become trendy and hip and I didn’t want to be ‘yet another person jumping on this band wagon’. After years of observing I have watched my friend Michelle really get something out of this idea of a theme. So this year, after writing my intentions the thought keeps popping into my head about my year theme and what that means.
I like the concept of a theme because it fits into so many areas of our lives. We can have the theme of family, health, joy, laughter or relationships and from those themes can come many different intentions. So if your theme is health you could have the intention from quitting smoking to taking 5 minutes a day to meditate. If family is your theme you could have anything from learn your roots and work on your genealogy to spend more time with your immediate family. The possibilities are really endless.
So what is my theme you might ask? After much debate and thought…I kept coming back to words like genuine, congruency, authenticity and truth. Words that had the theme of honesty. So I decided my theme would be honesty. To be honest (ha!) I was surprised that this was the word that resonated the most, because I value truth, I am a trustworthy person. However, honesty fits for me, in this time, for this year. To be honest, I have a tendency (as we all do..but I have a skill at it) of burying my head in the sand and heading into denial. Yes, I believe denial is there for a reason to protect us from the pain of life, but I want to be more honest as to how long I stay in the denial phase of pain management!! I want to be more honest with myself in what I really want out of my life, and my business I want to be more honest in my relationships in what I need and how I feel. I want to be more honest in what is happening around me, and the actions I need to take.
There you have it.. me sharing (and honestly feeling quite vulnerable about it) my 2012 theme of Honesty. What themes resonate with you? What words peak your interest for the year 2012 or even just for the month of January? Feel free to share in the comments.
This is the first year that chose a theme,and was hesitant mainly because i thought it was a woowoo thing to do. But it has been a very important way to frame how I want to be for the year. I chose the theme Calm, and created a mind map with associated words around my theme. I realized all that is required to embody this theme, as well as all of the benefits of being Calm. Additionally I have shared my theme with my loved ones, and have found that it helps me to stay accountable to what I really want. When I look ahead to December 2012, I can see where I want to be and set intentions accordingly. Thanks for the post!
I hear you on the ‘woo woo’ thing–ha! But it does feel nice that so many words/ideas can come from one theme. I love the idea of calm and the idea of sharing with others for the support. Can’t wait to hear how the year of Calm emerges for you!!
Yay for themes! You know I’m a big fan of creating a theme at the new year (thanks for the nod and link!) and I’m happy to hear that you have created a version of the idea that feels great to you, Nancy Jane. For me, as you said, the reason the theme works so well is that it is flexible. Because it is simply a “way of being” and a reference (or North Star, I like to think of it as), it doesn’t ask me to be something I feel strongly against at any given moment.
So far, I’m loving my Year of Beauty (my 2012 theme.) The ways it has effected my decisions so far: I listen to more peaceful music while I work, I smile more at the way my kids smile (for real, I’m not just saying this to be all woo-woo
and I chose the most beautiful ceramic bowls to make pendant lights from for our kitchen remodel. Oh, and my website’s new “outfit” feels much more beautiful to me than the last one it was wearing.
I wish you a zillion sweet, honest moments in 2012, NJ. And Ingrid, may the calm continue to surround your experiences in 2012 as well.
Thanks Michelle-love to hear your insight on the theme idea. You will always be the originator of the theme idea! Thanks for all your support.
In order to find my word, I decided to think about what word currently defines me and it is “worrier.” In my ‘research’ I discovered a few synonyms: complainer, crepehanger, downer, killjoy, party pooper, prophet of doom, sourpuss, wet blanket, fraidy cat, nervous wreck, pantywaist, worrywart, wuss. Crepehanger??? But my all time favorite was wuss!! Let’s not sugar coat this, right!
So the opposite of this word, worry, is actually really wonderful—“hope, peace and confidence.” Although confidence was a strong runner up, I’m choosing my word to be “hope”
Thank you for this exercise. I loved it!
Hope–What a great word–full of promise and compassion, wonder and possibility! Thanks so much for sharing your theme and the process through which you discovered it!