What Is Your Word Guide for The New Decade?

What is your word guide for the new year? Several people have recently sent me posts about selecting a "word" for the new year. This is an interesting approach to grounding our focus on what matters most. It certainly is a way to claim our agency in the new year. As I read the posts I wondered, what if we selected a word to be our guide for the new decade? 

Several people have been sharing their words with me. Annie Cushman wrote " As we squelched through puddles under the redwoods, we reflected on our intentions for the coming year and how we might distill them into a single word- something we could carry with us as a reminder like a river-smoothed stone in a pocket." She selected the word simplify as part of her Clearing Clutter work. Others selected balance, expand, stability, authenticity and centered to be their word guide for the year.  

This invitation to identify one word to guide me was challenging as I was seeking a word that grounded, pulled, and energized me. The words people had shared with me were inspiring and yet I was looking for something that was complex enough to awaken me to new ways of being. Eventually, I landed on the word Grace. There are so many different ways people interpret the word grace. Grace feels like an awakening word. The range and diversity of definitions of grace helped me to see that it could be an inclusive word guide for the decade. Grace feels like a word that invites me to awaken to new possibilities, people, and opportunities. 

BC Aronson's book of quotes on Grace is a compelling invitation to look at the expansiveness of this one word. People were invited to share their meaning of grace and then the author sorted the definitions by categories. There were categories on faith, compassion, forgiveness, purpose, style and kindness. Aronson's collection invited me to look at this word with so many new lenses. It felt big and bold enough for a decade. 

Questions for You:

What is a word that could guide you into the new decade?

What is an expansive word that would ground you and energize you? 

What is a word that is complex enough to open you to multiple meanings?

What word would awaken you to new possibilities and invite you to see the world with fresh eyes?