I follow a closed Facebook group whose focus is on minimalism. I am usually a bad Facebook group participant, but I love this group. It’s called No Sidebar. People post stories and triumphs about their journey to minimalism, ask questions of others and reflect as a community. It’s respectful and it promotes consciousness and intention in participants’ lives. It’s one of the only groups I actually participate in. I read the posts, respond, ask questions and ponder. Lately the theme of the group has been the personal word of the year. Individuals have been posting their word for 2019 and an explanation on why that’s going to be their word. It’s really been inspiring to see what the words are and read the reason these people have chosen them.
Reasons why I love a personal word-of-the year:
-it replaces resolutions
-it is meaningful
-it is one word that can be referred to and remembered easily throughout the year
-it can help us stay aligned with our personal philosophy.
You might already intuitively know what your word is. Fantastic! If not, try to write out a list of all the words that pop into your mind that are inspiring, have meaning, represent you at a spiritual level, align with your personal philosophy, or are related to the authentic life you want to live. Categorize those words to see if there are common themes. Circle the top few words that truly resonate with you, then ask yourself reflective questions to narrow it down to one. Once you’ve got your one word, make sure it aligns with your personal philosophy, goals, lifestyle, or anything else you might want to reference.
Some tips to remembering and living by your personal word for the remaining 51 weeks of the year after 2019 comes:
-put it on your desk top background or your phone background so you have a constant reminder
-write it on a post-it note and place it on your mirror or in your car
-associate it with a wearable, like a meaningful necklace
-engrave something you use regularly with your word
-include it within or around your personal philosophy
-frame the word, hang it on the wall, put it at your bedside or set it up in your meditation area
-tell a friend to seal the deal
-meditate on the word every time you meditate - focus on feeling it within your body.
I did the process above and ended up coming back to the first word that popped into my mind earlier this week: healer. I tossed around words like abundance, gratitude, rising, align, presence, and many more, but this is the one that kept showing up for me. I’ve been told by some of my spiritual mentors in 2018 that I am a healer. I never identified with this terminology, and I never looked at it this way before. But this word just feels so right on so many levels. It resonates with me on a deeper level and I feel it represents what I want to manifest in 2019.
My word for 2019: healer.
I’m going to use this year to heal myself and focus on my own physical, mental and spiritual healing.
My personal philosophy is all about healing: being outdoors, being grateful, being abundant; living authentically, intentionally and simply; thriving, being balanced, engaging in self-care; using movement and meditation as my medicine; being mindful and present; bringing forth joy and contentment; feeling love and light as my pure essence. By choosing healer as my personal word of the year, it exactly aligns with the philosophy that encourages me to heal through sacred, spiritual medicine.
I’m going to use my skills to help heal others - through my day job as an occupational therapist, and more importantly through my work and passion as a wellness coach, I help people heal themselves through self-love, self-compassion, self-care.
I’m going to keep learning more skills so I can teach more people to heal. This is what the word rising is all about in my business name Rose Quartz Rising - it’s a rising up to help others rise too. I’ve already seen the joy when folks wear my gemstone jewellery; I’d love for my card decks to allow people to heal in other ways. I see how my coaching service is allowing people to heal unhelpful habits and be more intentional, allowing them to focus on what really matters.
If I was to look back on 2018, I would say my personal word was evolution. If I think back to this time one year ago, how hopeless and burnt out I was feeling about my day job, how much physical pain I was in, how much I felt the need to push, and compare it to now, a time where I can ebb and flow with the demands of my job, I’ve accepted and feel open to receive, I’ve slowed down, I’ve built and started growing this business, it was nothing short of an evolution. And once we’ve evolved, we can heal.
What was your theme word for 2018? And what is your personal word for 2019?
I hope this sparks your interest and gets you thinking about a word that you can live by in 2019. I’d love to hear what word you chose and why! May your holidays be filled with happiness, joy, presence and maybe even a couple presents.
Love & light in 2019.
If you would like some help generating, or living by, your personal word, or any other topic in my blog, please contact me to see how we can work together.
Because together, we rise.