Choosing a Word for the New Year

I just got back from my long morning walk with Clara. It feels good. To be out in the winter mornings. To notice the changing landscape. Even on the chilliest mornings, our brisk pace warms my fingers and toes. I take a deep breath, the cold air fills my lungs and my heart expands with the beauty of this world.

beginning the year with days and days of hoar frost

I took some time off over the holidays to relax with Matthias and now that we’re both back to a regular schedule I’m trying to extend my slower pace. Clara and I venture out on multiple walks each day and spend time playing in the snow in the backyard. Many times during the day I find myself standing at the kitchen sink watching the birds out the window at the feeders in my garden.

With a slower pace, it’s easier to notice life’s little glimmers of beauty and joy.

In my newsletter at the beginning of December, I vowed “to do my best to fall in love with winter. To face my least favorite season with open hands, open eyes and an open heart.” So far it’s working. Being open to the possibility of loving winter has made all the difference.

OPEN

Open is my word for 2021*. This year I want to be open to possibilities. Open to trying new things. Open to discoveries. Open to inspiration. To beauty. To joy. To magic. To love.

It feels like a hopeful start for the new year.

One of my realizations from 2020 is that I struggle with anxiety. I always have, but somehow I’d never admitted it before. 2020 tested this again and again.

Although we’ve turned the calendar, the challenges, worries and anxieties of 2020 are far from over. It’s hard to begin the year with a heavy heart. And yet, I’m relishing, as I always do, a chance to start fresh. Although I have many plans and ideas for this new year, I’m not pressuring myself into action. Instead, with OPEN as my guiding word, I’m inviting myself to shift my perspective, to release my preconceptions, to follow my curiosity.

On a walk last month I was feeling a little down. An idea I’d had wasn’t quite working as I’d imagined. I thought about my choice of OPEN for 2021 and at first felt discouraged. Then I realized that open can also mean open to failure. Open to things not quite working out. Open to trying and then trying again.

“Success” and “failure” go hand in hand. I can’t be open to one without also being open to the other. Looking at it this way helps break down the barrier of fear — instead of closing myself off from failure, I’m opening myself to the possibility of success.

And in the same way as I’m open to the gifts of winter, relishing the feeling of cold air filling my lungs on my morning walks, this year I’m hoping my shift of perspective will support me as I continue to explore my feelings of anxiety. Instead of struggling against myself, I aim to embrace the many aspects of who I am.

I think OPEN is my favorite choice of a word yet.

Have you chosen a word for 2021? I’d love to hear about it.

*This is the 9th year I’ve chosen a word. Read about the others and get tips on choosing one of your own here.