What is a word of the year? And why would I need one?
Good question.
I’d seen it around on the internet for a few years because I jumped on board. I think I was reluctant to choose a “word of the year” because I was a hard-core resolutionist. I had bought into “New Year’s resolutions” all my life. Society said that was how I was supposed to start every January 1, with a list of detailed and nearly impossible plans. A simple “word of the year?” That was what communists did.
I don’t remember what made me decide to try it, but I did, and the results were…interesting.
I won’t say having a simple word that I could remind myself of, throughout a year was life-changing. But… it was easier to remember one word. And I had to be honest with myself, the pile of discarded and useless New Year’s Resolutions that never lasted past January was large and possibly governed by OSHA regulations.
Basically, resolutions hadn’t worked so well for me. And having a word of the year was simply more elegant, more profound and slightly more effective.
So yeah. I’m doing it again.
For review: My 2020 Word of the Year. (also talks about my 2019 word of the year.)
Without further ado, I present my word of 2021.
When I was still deliberating on this word, I went into Canva and played around with some designs. And when I put this photo with the word, I knew this was it. This perfectly encapsulates what I want to feel in 2021; the essentialism of creation, the anticipation of a blank page, the empowerment of what I can do with just my brain and my fast typing fingers.
But first, a Review.
Last year’s word/ phrase was Hell Yes. And I’ll still stand by all my reasons for picking it. 2020 was looking out to be a big year for me and I was going to say NO to anything that wasn’t a HELL YES.
But then 2020 turned out to be a HELL NO year.
So many of my plans - personal and professional - got a big ol’ HELL NO thanks to the global pandemic.
I’ll admit that trying to have a HELL YES life in a HELL NO year was a bit bewildering for a while there.
Still, I persisted in using HELL YES. There was a simplicity and a profundity to it, when my day-to-day choices were, do I want to go outside for a walk or do I want to meditate or do I want to bake brownies or do I want to play a game with my kids? Talk about bringing focus to my life. I was searching for hell yes in tiny alterations of my much-minimized landscape.
I learned a lot.
I thought I’d be saying HELL YES to cross-Atlantic travel and publicity tours.
Instead, I was saying no to depression and grief and HELL YES to resilience and health.
I keep saying this, but I hope I never forget everything that 2020 taught me.
New Year, New Word.
So why did I pick Create?
A verb.
Even though I tried to make the best of HELL YES in 2020, one of the things I noted about its limitations was that it was a passive word. “Hell yes!” is an answer to a question or offer that someone else puts out there. All the initiating action is really in others’ hands. And I wanted 2021 to be a me-initiating kind of year. A progressive, pro-active, forward movement year.
I needed a verb.
A word for work and life.
And yes, eagle-eyed readers will have already noted that I’m recycling CREATE from 2019. (and that I already sneakily hinted at it in this blog post.)
That’s because one of the loveliest things I discovered about my 2019 word was that CREATE was just as pertinent to my personal life as to my professional writing life.
I want to create a life that I love as much as I want to create stories that we’ll all love.
So.
I’m taking CREATE out of the box, shining it up, and seeing what we’re going to do in 2021.
The stickers on my hobonichi were chosen to coordinate with my word of the year. I love them soooooooo hard.
What’s next…
Ah. I wish I knew.
It’s not like 2021 instantly changed what is possible for me and my family. We’re taking this stupid pandemic seriously and it’s not always easy for me. Obviously, I’m an #activator. I want to start, jump on planes and send off manuscripts to anyone who wants them.
But CREATE is a good reminder for me. Things are in my hands. But I can also be #deliberative if I choose. Creation is a journey and a process. The Bible says that God took seven days to create the universe. But He’s given me the okay to take a little more time with my creations.
Thanks for going on the journey with me.
I try to share as much as I can on my Instagram and in the Secret Posts - my newsletter for the Inner Circle. Follow and subscribe and let’s create 2021 together.