A Kinder Way to Begin the New Year

I am not {yes, not!} making a list of New Year’s resolutions for 2014.

Each year I would draft a list of New Year’s resolutions – to be thinner, to work harder, to be less introverted - changes that I wanted for myself in the coming New Year.  Sadly my list would be neglected and forgotten by March.  As the next year rolled around, my new list was disappointingly similar to the previous year’s list.

A few years ago I read about the One-Little-Word {movement} in this blog post, and recently in this post, and I believe the idea originated here.  Choosing for yourself a single word to help guide you through the new year is a more optimistic, positive, and doable alternative to the typical list of New Year’s resolutions.  One-little-word can be magical and powerful. 

Last year my word was “trust” – to trust that everything will be okay if I let go, to believe in myself, and to have faith in the future.  “Trust” helped me to walk away from a terrible and cruel professional situation, “trust” allowed me to lean on my family and friends in ways that I’ve never allowed for myself, and “trust” showed me grace in difficult times, gratitude in lean times, and love in times of despair.  My one little word changed me in ways that I could never have imagined.

2014 is nearly here, and I’ve finally found my word. When I read the word “release” I felt an energy – a knowing – that this is the word that I need now.  The last few years have been difficult, and along the way I lost the real me.  In an attempt to be accepted and to shelter myself from maliciousness I tried to become hidden – and to be as quiet as possible.  I curled up tightly and I covered myself in layers of self-protection.  I thought that all of this would protect me from the unkindness that had been in my life.

I now feel a deep longing to uncurl and to stretch, to reach out to others, and to let go of all of those useless layers. 

Hello “Release”, I think that this is going to be a beautiful year. 

Do you have a "word" for 2014? 

I'm ending 2013 with a photo of two sweet little birds on a snowy Minnesota morning. 

I've added two layers of Kim Klassen's Storm texture on top of this image. 


Have a wonderful New Year's!  

Be wonderfully odd!