2017 Word of the Year

As a big picture thinker, I’m totally on board with the word of the year trend that seems to be sweeping the internet. I love the idea of a guiding thought that helps shape the decisions I make or the things I choose throughout the year. I love that a word of the year speaks to intention but is also open and can be interpreted in multiple ways. Resolutions, on the other hand, make me crazy. They feel like commandments rather than suggestions and I tend to get hung up on the perfection of them. (Side note, Gretchen Rubin’s book Better Than Before perfectly explains my rebel tendencies when it comes to habit formation). So I’m sticking with a Word of the Year to help me frame 2017.

My 2016 Word of the Year was Be Brave….yes, I know it’s technically two words but it worked for me. We have a large chalkboard in our dining room that I wrote my phrase on in January and it stayed up for most of the year. Something about seeing it up on the wall every time I sat down to eat or work was really powerful in reminding me what my intentions were. 2016 brought lots of change for me, including walking away from a job and starting this blog. In both of those decisions I spent plenty of time being afraid and worrying about the outcome, but ultimately decided to take a leap. I know that my word for the year pushed me to take those risks.

I’ve been thinking a lot about my word of the year for 2017. I’m not coming into this year with as much hope or enthusiasm as I typically do in a new year but I do feel wiser and more tuned-in to both my strengths and my weaknesses. Maybe I’m stepping more into my own skin as I am now decidedly in my middle-thirties but I feel a shift in how I see myself and the world. More broken but also more fierce. I am much less certain about what the future looks like but I’m also more resolved to find my own path.

With this in mind, my word for 2017 is BECOMING. It’s purposefully in the progressive tense because I want to capture the ongoingness (yup) of my own growth this year. I’d like to walk away from 2017 with a deeper understanding of myself and I hope my word is a reminder to ask myself the question…..is this decision helping me to become more of who I am? I want my word of the year to capture the hope that comes with a fresh calendar, the rebirth we feel again and again as we start anew.

I’d love to hear what your word is for 2017. What captures your hopes for this coming year? Do you like the idea of a word of the year or do you prefer a list of resolutions? Leave a comment below with your thoughts!