A favourite habit of mine is naming my day / week / year – giving each one a theme or a focus. I’ll have a day of Ideas or week of Calm, and picking the name makes me smile, even when my teenagers roll their eyes at me repeating the really good ones way too often. Sometimes it’s just fun to say the word – when I first made focaccia it seemed like a miracle to have this yummy bread appear from scratch in my kitchen, so the next weekend I had another Day of Focaccia. Try not to smile when you say that out loud a few times, it’s impossible.
Naming a whole year takes a bit more reflection since it’s so much more of a commitment!
In December 2015, I declared (to myself and my journal) that 2016 would be a year of Celebration and Simplicity, and it was. Having two themes was a bit much though, especially since one of them was Simplicity… so I decluttered down to one theme for 2017. It was The Year of Adventure, and what *spectacular* adventures they were!!
I was confident about my theme for 2018: Serenity. I’d learned so much about intentional, peaceful living and had (on one of my adventures) held a ceremony to release things from my past that weren’t of any help to me anymore. I was feeling very calm and thought it wise to take a break from all the adventures.
One lesson I am forever learning is that I can’t predict the future. Life is full of gloriously unexpected events and 2018 turned out to be a year of love, serene at times but far more of a roller coaster ride than 2017-Karen foresaw.
So, 2019? I’m aiming for The Year of Wisdom, bringing together all the ideas and work I’ve done and sharing it with others. Does that seem pretentious though? There will always be so much to learn and so many ways to grow, will I ever truly feel wise? Maybe it will be the year of Magic. I do think of all the great ideas as magic lessons… so that might be it. We’ll see what I decide on New Year’s Eve – I’ll put off the commitment till the last possible moment 🙂
[Updated Dec 10, I can always trust that the answer will come to me – 2019 will most definitely be the Year of Wonder! The wonder of possibilities.]
While it’s still 2018, I’m going to enjoy a serene cup of coffee and a good book.
