Can you think of a single word that sums up what you want for yourself in 2012? It can be anything you want – tangible or intangible, a thought, feeling or object. The key is to find something that has personal meaning for you.
One Little Word is the brainchild of Ali Edwards, a designer, blogger and author who creates scrapbooks from words and pictures (www.aliedwards.com).
“A single word can be a powerful thing,” she says. “It can be the ripple in the pond that changes everything. It can be sharp and biting or rich and soft and slow. From my own personal experience, it can be a catalyst for enriching your life. In 2006, I began a tradition of choosing one word for myself each January – a word that I can focus on, meditate on, and reflect upon as I go about my daily life.
“My words have included play, peace, vitality, nurture, light, and story. These words have each become a part of my life in one way or another. They’ve been imbedded into who I am, and into who I’m becoming. They’ve been what I’ve needed (and didn’t know I needed). They’ve helped me to breathe deeper, to see clearer, and to grow.”
The one word that keeps coming up for me is transition. So that is my word for 2012. The dictionary states that transition means the act of passing from one state or place to the next; an event that results in a transformation; a musical passage moving from one key to another.
I rather like that feeling of forward momentum, resulting in transformation – and the musical connotation. I must find a soundtrack for my word.
There is evidence of transition all around us, on many different levels – in the natural and man-made worlds. Structures, institutions, governments and leaders that once seemed solid, impregnable or immovable are falling apart. There are no certainties, and who knows where we’ll end up? Will we be transformed and, if so, what will that look like?
I can’t answer any of these questions, so I’ll follow Ali Edwards’s advice, which is to meditate and reflect upon transition as I go about my daily life. Hopefully by the end of the year all will become clear – but I won’t hold my breath…
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