It’s March 2022 and I don’t have my Word for the Year

Why I haven’t been called to do “My Word for the Year” for the past 2 years…

Just in case you have no idea what I’m talking about, finding your word for the year is a process that many of us in the spiritual, personal development and coaching worlds etc use to create an intent for the year ahead, I suppose a bit like a New Year’s resolution but more empowering in my personal opinion as it’s more about what you want to imbue your year with as opposed to specific goals such as exercise more, change jobs, eat healthier etc.

Previous years I have loved the process of seeing what it is I want to focus on and what it is I want to infuse my work and life with. I’ve created vision boards and mantras with these words, and certainly felt their power. They provided direction, intent and a “true north”, and I was without doubt able to manifest them when I looked back at the end of each year and did a check in.

Finding your word

You can come to your word very easily by simply having a real “knowing” of what the word is; this has happened to me several times, with the word starting to make itself known as early as November of the previous year. If you’re intuitive and follow the breadcrumbs of life, then the word will be confirmed and reconfirmed by the time it comes to January when you want to bed your word down.

At the opposite end of the spectrum, another way of finding your word is through the beautiful process of journalling. This could include a reflection of the year passed, what worked and what didn’t, what you want more of and what you’d like less of. It may include a visualisation of what your ideal day would look like and finding what type of energy is infused through that day – is it joy, tranquility, adventure, ease, power, courage etc?

This would then springboard you into a contemplation of what it is you need more of in the New Year and how you want to feel.  “Trying on’ certain words and seeing how they “feel” in your body.

Once you have your word you can then use it as part of your vision board, or maybe as a single word on a card on your altar, or as a screensaver on your phone/laptop. The options on how you can be reminded are endless. It’s good to check in every quarter or so to see if you’re creating the opportunities for what you have chosen to show up for you.

Back to why I haven’t had a word for the past couple of years

After doing this beautiful exercise annually for 6 years and loving the intentionality it came as a surprise to me when it all just stopped, I had no desire to do my normal “Word of the Year” ritual at the end of 2020. And interestingly, it didn’t bother me, in fact I gave it very little thought. I saw all my friends and colleagues coming up with their magnificent words and when I reflect on it, it felt like I was observing from a distance, that it wasn’t for me anymore. I managed to get through 2021 just perfectly and as the year was finishing I thought about it again and once more there was no pull. At times I felt I wanted to want it, however that was probably just FOMO. Thankfully I always come back to honouring what my intuition is telling me as opposed to my head. Our egoic mind can get in the way far too much at times right?

And now we’re in March 2022 and the feeling is the same – I haven’t felt a word come forward. I do wonder if it was the energy and uncertainty of the pandemic, since that has been the same timeline of two years.

I have never been one to make long plans, much preferring to respond to the energy of the moment. This of course has its downsides; not getting a holiday booking as I’ve left it too late, tickets for courses and concerts being sold out, missing out on a variety of events etc because I wasn’t the early bird and needed to “feel into the moment”.

Despite this, that feeling of stripping away more and more has grown and expanded for me. I desire a much simpler life and in this instance that means not having a defining word for the year. You’d think my word would potentially be “Simple’ then right? But no, it’s releasing what feels extraneous to me.

As I type this, I breathed out all these things that feel like attachments, in the same way that I do breath release work of stuck energy I feel in client’s meridians when doing Kinesiology or Reiki.

Of course I have appointments, sessions with clients, all the normal stuff; I’m not meandering my way along a fairy path without a care in the world, not making any plans whatsoever. Rather it is more that I am ever present to what is unfolding before me without constraints and preconceived notions. And this is not to say that my previous words for the year felt like constraints, they didn’t by any means, it’s just that now I feel I don’t want or need their structure or offerings anymore.

I step into each day with the possibility that whatever comes my way is meant to be there, that I will be directed to do what is for the highest good and that I will see the gifts in any challenges that I face. In my morning practice I always ask that I am guided to work from a place of Service and Love and that is all I need to know.

So if you too haven’t found a word for the year, or an intent, or a resolution, here is an invitation to release the shackles of all the “shoulds” and “wants” we place on ourselves. Rather, I welcome you to join me as we gently ride the waves of life, responding in the moment to each rise and fall. Allowing words and intents to change daily, weekly, monthly… honouring that sometimes we don’t need the vessel of a word but maybe the expansion and space that the gift of change and flow allows us.