....word of the year

Yogis,
My how the years fly by. Once again, we arrive at the door of another brand new year. Before us lies a blank slate on which to paint whatever it is that we want to create. What is it that you see for yourself in 2022?

One good way to begin is to select a word or words. A word that has the feeling tone of what you are imagining. A word that can act as your teacher, guide and gentle kick in the butt for those times when you forget. It doesn’t have to be fancy or specific, it just has to feel like it fits.

This week I had been waiting for my word to arrive. Patiently (well kind of)

I didn’t want to force a word or be swayed by one that I saw plastered everywhere I looked. For example, the word ‘hope’ is now being casually thrown around. The way it is currently being used implies that everything is bad right now and that all we have to do is keep up our ‘hope’ that there is light on the other side of now. But I’m not sure that is an actionable word. It also discounts the beauty of now.

We can’t hope things into being. In many ways it vibrates similarly to the word ‘wish’ that I have written about in the past. Not that hope is bad! We need it, but to me hope is about having a deep unwavering inner knowing that things can change. The opposite would be despair. We want to keep our candle of hope lit but not depend on it for the work that only we can do here on the ground.

Last night we watched ‘Don’t Look Up.’ The movie is causing a lot of discussion, but regardless of what you think of the movie, you can’t help but reflect on where we are as a world. The comet could be anything……the virus, climate change, hate, greed, political strife. Pick your poison. Hope, like the failed mission, will not fix us.

With all of that as a backdrop, my word for the year is ‘responsibility.’

I am part of the problem. There is no ‘they’ and the more times we use that word the greater the divide becomes. Only I…..you……we….. can create the change needed and the first step is owning up to how we got here. Acknowledging that we created this mess. All of it. All of us. Only with responsibility taken can we begin to forge ahead.

I will take responsibility for plastic that goes into my recycle bin. I will take responsibility for unkind thoughts. I will be responsible for planting more native plants. I will take responsibility for reading the labels of what I am putting on my body, down the drain or on my yard. I will take responsibility for the social media I consume and the Amazon that I order.

If I can’t, how can I expect others to?

As I write this I wonder if you will feel this writing is a downer on the dawn of a new year. You shouldn’t! I feel elated by the vision of working to be a more responsible human in this coming year. Of creating change. One day at a time……..

I know it isn’t sexy, but it feels like it fits just right,
SARAH