Word of the Year!

Each year, we women of the Rockville 8 choose a new Word of the Year for ourselves, a sort of talisman, if you will, that helps focus our thoughts and actions throughout the coming months. We invite you to join us in the practice - read below to see the R8's crop of words, then comment for a chance to win Mackenzie Lucas' debut book from Soul Mate Publishing - Essence.

CLEARING

     J. Keely Thrall

Last year I chose bounce - and I certainly feel like I did a lot of bouncing around, up, down and sideways. This year, I'm hankering for a little more focus and the word that speaks to me is Clearing. As in, clearing the path of obstacles (real and imagined) as I make steady progress on my goals. As in, using the image of a sun-dappled clearing in the woods as a meditation focal point to bring me back to center. Just thinking the word seems to relax my shoulders and invoke a peaceful, easy feeling (to quote an awesome song). I could definitely benefit from a year of that!

EVOLVE
     Lisa McQuay
The American Heritage Dictionary defines ‘evolve’ as “to develop or achieve gradually; to work (something) out, devise; to develop (a characteristic) by evolutionary processes.”  Evolve is a verb which denotes action.  Action is what keeps us moving, hopefully toward our goals. 

I’ve been developing as a writer for many years.   For example, I’ve increased the speed at which I can write.  Given a writing assignment at my day job, I flew through it and returned it to management long before they thought I could.  In that moment, I realized how much I’ve strengthened my writing muscles over the years to be able to write so much in a short time.  Sometimes, it takes looking back to see how far you’ve come.  Looking forward is wonderful—it keeps you going.  But, remembering where you came from can give you incentive to travel the rest of the way, especially if you’ve experienced a setback or are feeling discouraged along the way.

 

I’m working out this writing thing every day—plotting, researching, writing down the bones of my stories and editing.  This year is a year of personal evolution.  Not just in my writing but in my personal life.  I’m doing several things to take care of myself and will come out on the other end being better than I’ve been in a long while.  Because life is about evolving—hopefully into what you envision your best life to be.  

 

RELEASE

     Mackenzie Lucas

My word for 2014 is RELEASE. There are several reasons for my choice of this word in this particular year. First is because my first book release from a publisher is out in the new year. I hope to have at least two more releases in 2014--one is a confirmed sale, the other is just wishful thinking so far. Second, this year I'm determined to RELEASE and let go of anything that's not working. I have a tendency to just plow ahead once I've set a course and not really evaluate if something is still working. So this is the year for re-evaluation, reflection, and RELEASE. Third, and probably the hardest and most important, is that my oldest son (Spiderman) is going off to college in the fall. So I'll need to learn to let go and RELEASE him into the world to fly (or to cast his Spidey web). All in all, I think RELEASE is the word that will typify my year.

 

BREATHE

     Nichole Christoff

Well, 2013 was quite a whirlwind! New house, new neighborhood, new job...Whew! I jumped feet first into each new experience, searching for my groove and refusing to let the newness break my stride. And that was great. But as I bounced from new situation to new situation, I sometimes found myself wondering which way was up. That's why my 2014 Word of the Year is Breathe. Breathing is a good thing to do once in awhile, don't you think? I'll still have plenty of new things to tackle in 2014, like a couple of new writing projects. But this year, I want to remember I'll enjoy it all so much more--and I'll be much more effective--if I pause to breathe.

 

CONNECT

     Evie Owens

This year, for reasons I will explain further in my next blog post, I am forced to come up with my own word and I choose CONNECT. I choose it for all the meanings you'd expect, but also because, when I looked it up, there was a sports definition as well which is, "to make a successful hit, shot, or throw" (connected for a home run).

 

DO

     Misha Crews

My word for 2014 is short and sweet: DO. Although the word itself is tiny, those two little letters combine to form a huge and powerful concept: bring something to its goal or finish; accomplish. Like a lot of artsy folks, I can do no end of dreaming, cogitating, even over-thinking. But in 2014, my focus is going to be on gettin' stuff done. Less cogitation, less worry, and more doing.

 

LUCKY

     Marjanna Bogan

Better. I thought my word was better. I mean, practically anything had to be better than 2013. Better coping. Better experiences. Better health. Better bank balancing. Better creativity. Better time management. But Better gives so much power to the incredibly awful year that was 2013. So, then I thought, as I was driving home last night, I want to be Lucky. Better is a depressing. Lucky is fun. Better is wiping off a sweaty brow, and a tired hope for the future. Lucky is a long-shot, a surprise, a life-change.  The older I get, the more I realize my life is based upon my choices and the completely unexpected, unplanned events that happen to me. So, while I try to be better, I'm hoping the universe will serve up some Lucky onto my plate. The good kind, that is.

 

 

SABBATICAL

    Shellie Williams

I (Keely) am totally choosing Shellie’s WotY, here. She’s taking a few months off the merry-go-round so she can come back to center and realign her priorities. We all have times when it’s crucial to take a long hard look at our lives to see what’s working, what isn’t, what we can change and what we can’t. Kudos to Shellie for recognizing her need and acting on it.