One Little Word® 2017 | Connect
Another trip around the sun is coming to a close.
My overwhelming feeling at the end of this year is wholehearted thankfulness. For the whole of it. The hard parts and the easy parts and the parts in between. It's something we can count on - that crazy mixture of highs and lows and normals - throughout the 365 days we call a year in our lives.
I absolutely loved focusing on the word "whole" as my One Little Word® for 2016. It is a word that I will carry with me for the rest of my life - "open" is another one that I feel strongly about. Whole challenged me in the ways I needed to be challenged and wrapped me up in goodness in so many other ways. I loved asking questions about the different pieces of my own whole and looking deeper into what it means to me to feel "whole."
It's crazy when I think back on all the words I've had over the years (I started this practice in 2006):
- Play
- Peace
- Vitality
- Nurture
- Story
- Light
- Up
- Open
- Thrive
- Give
- Whole
For 2017 I'm choosing to explore my life through the lens of the word "connect."
I'm ending 2016 and beginning 2017 by connecting directly and in person with my immediate family (parents, brother, sister + all their families) at my parents house on the coast. I'm already including "connect" in daily thoughts as I go about the regular stuff of my life - asking myself how I'm connecting with this and that and especially focusing on what I can disconnect from (love the angle of including the opposite of my word).
This blended family life is offering me a whole lot of opportunities for connection and I don't want to miss those. We've all been sinking in to this "new normal" around here - life is such a series of "new normals" isn't it? We get used to a situation or a piece of our lives and then something changes - for better or worse - and then we are forced (either kicking and screaming or accepting or a crazy combination of those emotions) to adapt to the "new" normal. What I have learned over the last so many years is that we are always riding that wave - either in the beginning or the end or somewhere in between. It is life. It is our life. What we get to choose is how we respond and live through all those moments.
In 2017 I hope to specifically investigate areas related to connecting with myself, connecting with others (especially family and community), connecting with work, and connecting with nature/outdoors (I feel a strong pull towards that this year). I also plan to focus on the idea of disconnecting in order to make sure I'm living in alignment with my highest values.
If you'd like to hear me talk more about this topic, check out a new podcast I did earlier this week with Elise about our words from last year and this year. It's a very candid conversation about what's worked and not worked related to both choosing and living with our words.
My wonderful little heart shown above is from Liz Lamoreux and is called a Whole Heart Pocket Talisman. It's a wonderful way to keep your word close throughout the year.
SHARE YOUR WORD IN THE COMMENTS
I’d love to read what word you’ve chosen or are considering for 2017. In the comments feel free to simply leave your word as your comment or write a bit about why you are choosing this word. Next week I’ll combine all the words into a single post – it's become tradition and super inspiring to see all the words in one place.
If you’re new to the concept of One Little Word®, you can read some of my previous posts here: 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016.
JOIN ME IN MAKING OUR WORDS VISIBLE
To help keep your One Little Word® more visible throughout the year I offer a year-long workshop featuring one creative prompt per month. Read all the details and sign up here. Registration is $5 off until December 31, 2016. I've also created a selection of products to help you document your journey with your word - check those out here (stamps will be restocked later in January and we have a pre-order happening for an additional restock of the blue albums that will arrive in late March/early April). During the One Little Word® 2017 Kick-Off ordering period (between now and 1/31/17), items featured on the One Little Word® 2017 page are eligible for free shipping domestic and $5 international. If you add any other items from the shop to your cart, normal shipping rates will apply to those additional items.
rise.
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My word for 2017 is free. It means a lot of different things to me already....free to be me & not who others think I should be. Free from previous limitations I have put on myself. Free to make mistakes. Free from disease & ailments & pain. Free from junk from the past. Moving freely as I want to get back into yoga. Giving freely as I am able. I'm doing the workshop for the first time & I'm so looking forward to it!!! Thanks Ali!
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This year's word is MAGIC - first grand baby was born on Dec. 2, 2016 so it will be a magical year!
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CRAFT
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Change... spiritually, geographically physically, mentally, creatively...
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This year will be different for me ... I do not have a single word, I have many words to help me in this coming year
My word is "I am" and every month will join this word another: strength, creativity, illusion, changes, try ... and so that word will have its strength and importance
My 2016 has been horrible and with a single word I can not face the new year, I need new purposes every month to find myself again, if only to recover part of it
January will start with "I am" then I will see that same month my next word
I know I should concentrate on one word, but there is no word that encompasses everything I want and need for 2017
Sorry for my english, I'm from Barcelona and the languages cost me (thanks google translator!)
Love this! Wishing you success as you say goodbye to 2016 and embrace a new year.
I this is a great idea! I love it! Best of luck with your plan for 2017!
Wonderful approach.
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Vitality
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Patience.
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2012 Follow
2013 Abide
2014 Renovate
2015 Joy
2016 Free
And 2017, Love.
I've decided that Love will be my OLW for 2017 because nothing is more important to me than loving God, loving my family and friends, loving my students and coworkers, loving my neighbors, and loving the person in front of me in this time when our country and world are filled with conflict and unrest. Life is precious and all too short sometimes and I want to spend every day loving the people in my life and creating a legacy of love that will hopefully extend beyond my lifetime.
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Magic for me in 2017
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This will be my 8 or 9th year picking a word. Some years have been more successful than others. My word for 2017 is FOCUS. I'm planning on making a weekly list of my priorities and trying to focus myself to work on those things, create new habits, and become a more centered person.
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today
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Create
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CHANGE
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My word for 2017 will be Believe.
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2015- Nourish
2016- Enough
2017- Cherish
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2014 - Clarity
2015 - Intention
2016 - Pretty
2017 - Build
Thanks Ali! This has been such a wonderful adventure!
Happy 2017 to all!
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Nurture
It seems the best word to investigate and invest in. Nurture my relationships, nurture myself, nurture fun. When I thesaursed it, so many of the words stuck out To me too.
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Rise
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#olwfor2017 is fun!
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FOCUS!
Focus on Jesus. Focus on health. Focus on allowing myself to heal. Focus on allowing myself to be creative. Focus on moving forward. Focus on grace not perfection.
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My word is Whole for 2017. I wrote a post about it on my blog if you want to take a look
http://braveliving.blogspot.co.uk/2016/12/one-little-word-whole.html
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CREATE
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My word for 2017 is JOY - in 2016 I felt that I had lost the JOY in what I do and so I need to choose JOY in what I do, in my relationships, my family, my faith and for myself.
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Embrace! Embrace life....all of it. The good, the bad, the messy.
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