About 5 years ago I took up a new practice around New Years.
I was dissatisfied with the idea of a New Years Resolution in the way that the dominant culture had presented it to me1. Both the science I was learning about human behavior and the intuitive sense of my own navigation techniques kept bringing me back to the realization that if goals that were too specific would fizzle and make me feel like shit about myself. So while living in Boise, waiting on my graduate school acceptance letters, and leaning deeply into a community I loved—I decided to try something different.
Instead of a New Years Resolution,
I chose a New Years Word.
I purposely tried to choose a word that was multi-faceted. One that I could grow and deepen with over the course of the year. One that also held some type of value or longing inside of it, giving me tiny baby steps towards the person I wanted to be. I am always surprised that by simply choosing a word at the top of the year—I work on the word, and the word works on me.
The past holds:
Tone,
Space,
Roots,
Ease,
Bitterness.
As I approach the threshold of a new calendar year, I’m leaning into mobility.
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