January 12, 2018 – Friday
If you know me, you know I am a talker. If you read my blogs, you know I can get a bit wordy. I am a Scrabble game lover, a letter writer, and word puzzle aficionado. Don’t let me get near your Jumble… I’ll have it done before you get your pencil sharpened!
Words for me are as food is to others. Except, if I were on a deserted island and only given words to eat, I’d starve. Well, I’m good with words… not so much with analogies!
The other night, my dear friend/neighbor and I were out for dinner. She told me that her daughter has this tradition of choosing one word at the beginning of each year and practicing that word for the next 360 some days. I now don’t remember her daughter’s word, but my friend also chose one and her word for the year is PAUSE.
Pause… to listen, to take in the moment or day, to catch your breath, to watch, to slow down.
I loved the idea and loved her word. What a delicious way to be conscious about your life… take one word and let it weave its way through your days. What changes in life await!
So, thank you friend for this idea as I will adopt it into my life starting … now. I’ve been mulling this around for a few days now… trying to come up with THE ONE WORD for the year. My partner for the next 11 some months … my mantra.
And the only thing that has really come to mind is that I am not a one-word person. As infants, even then, we start dabbling in our native language with a variety of one and two syllable words – usually those of familiarity … mama, dada, ball, etc. I’m sure I did that, as well, but one of my early words still strikes a chord with me…goggigle (as in gaw-gee-gull) … it meant oatmeal cookie. (Always the foodie!) I don’t know – still sounds to me like a descriptor for a yummy cookie with oats and raisins!
In any case, I’ve been mulling over a plethora of words. I’ve been giving my Merriam-Webster a run for its money! But nothing has popped out at me … zip, zero, zilch, nada, niente, niets. So, I thought I’d ruminate for a while. If I were a cow, I’d be off in my meadow chewing my cud for a few days, pondering what (flowers to eat and) words I should choose. Or better yet, which one word to begin with!
Of all the 171,476 (currently used) words in the English language – I only needed ONE!
And it couldn’t be a word that I have a handle on already … I’m GRATEFUL, so that wouldn’t do the trick. COMPASSION, REGARD, INTEGRITY … all threads woven into my life already. And sure, they might come up again during the year for a refresher, but I needed something new!
So, yesterday, after much consternation and brain drain, I decided to throw the idea out to the universe and see what I NEEDED in my life – because it can’t be just ANY word or one that won’t help me grow, gain enlightenment and flourish. I needed to be patient. And PATIENT might be a word I use later on … but I needed something better. I needed to just think and sit here.
And there is was … HERE.
Now an odd choice, you may say… but let me explain.
Here, is a multi-function word – it can be an adverb, a pronoun, a noun, an adjective or an interjection. By definition, it means: in, at, or to this place of position or process … as in, “Come here.”
Or as in: in this instance, “Here we agree.”
Or it can be used to make a statement more forceful: “Hey, there are a lot of iguanas here!”
Or it could also mean: appearing or happening now … as in, “Spring is here at last!”
And it also means: at this point in the process… as in, “I paused here for a moment before continuing on.”
And to delve deeper to that point… because aren’t we all in the process of doing something? I want to be HERE … present, aware, awake, centered, focused … here!
I broke a glass this morning. I turned around and in one swift movement I swept it off the counter and it shattered into a zillion pieces on the kitchen floor. Thankfully the dogs were not nearby. I was multi-tasking and not fully present in any one thing of which I was doing. I was here, but not HERE.
The other day, while at a client’s home for a dog walk, I stepped down one step into their garage to hang up the leash and my mind was elsewhere and I missed the second step! One minute I was on the stairs, the next I was on the cold, cement floor of their garage with the contents of their recycle bin on top of me! Yeah, took that down with me! My foot’s puffy and my pride was a bit bruised and I had a tuna can stuck in my hair but both events have made me painfully aware that I need to be HERE maybe more than I am.
Be present. WAKE UP! Be HERE!
And, taking that even a bit further… I’m HERE as … here on this island. I have been here now for 3.5 years. And I knew, shortly after moving here (oh, I used it as a point of reference, location and for emphasis – a triple whammy!) I knew I was not where I should be. Wrong island. Wrong coast. Wrong weather. Just a LOT wrong. But, I thought I’d try the old adage of “fake it ’til you make it” … nah, it hasn’t really worked any magic! But, I’m HERE for a reason (or two or a hundred) and I’m figuring that out.
And, as much as I ponder my next location and where that might be and when I might leave, I’m still HERE. So, I need to be here … focus on my life now – being in the moment … being HERE. Present, awake, aware, focused, centered. What brings me joy? What can I change? What do I need to do to just be here and live my life and enjoy and really be in the moment of being HERE? Every day?
So, that is my word. I’ve got a lot of thinking to do. Oh yes, I’ll adopt another word soon enough because I am not a one-word gal but I think I’ll play with this one for a while and see what I can do with it.
I’ll get back to you … but if you need me, I’m here.