Word of the Year 2019!

Happy New Year! Can you believe it's 2019 already?

Well, it's true that the R8 have been MIA for the last few - ahem - years. We all had Life happen with a capital L, and consequently the blog kind of fell by the wayside. But we are still here, we are still writing, and we want to ring in the new year with you! 

So here are the words we have chosen to define our 2019. We hope that the coming year brings you everything you have hoped for and more!

Nichole Christoff

Word: Gear

Why this one: Whether we’re talking high, low, forward, or reverse, “gear” is my Word of the Year because it’s a good reminder to keep on keepin’ on. I figure gettin’ it in gear is the only way to reach the next destination on this road called Life. If I’m not ready to roll, Life could pass me by, and I don’t want that. So, whether my progress is slow or quick, I want to engage that gear.

Why this year: With the latest two Jamie Sinclair novels having hit the virtual bookshelves in 2018 and new works-in-progress for 2019, now is the perfect time to remind myself that there will be obstacles on the road ahead, maybe a detour or two, but I can put in plenty of mileage, too. By getting myself in gear, I’ll get where I want to go. And so will you.

So! “Gear” is my Word of the Year! Throughout 2019, feel free to keep in touch. You can find me, my books, and all my social media links at www.nicholechristoff.com.

Misha Crews

Word: Through

Why This Word: A few months ago, I was very despondent. I was far from home, having recently transplanted myself to the west coast, and life was not looking quite as sparkly as usual (which is quite a bit of an understatement). Suddenly, my sadness was overtaken by this thought: Wow, I am really going through something. And if I'm going through it, then at some point, I will come out the other side.

Why This Year: At the end of August 2018, my mother passed away very suddenly. That loss is one which can never be reversed. Although I do believe in an afterlife and I know we will see each other again, I will be without her for the rest of this lifetime. And that fact, to put it poetically, sucks big time. The adjustment period after this bereavement is a major part of what I have been going through.

I looked up the origin of "through" (researching word origins is one of my favorite forms of therapy), and it comes from a Dutch word meaning "door," which can be traced back even further, meaning "to cross over, pass through, overcome." There is a peaceful resonance to the idea that I am passing through a door, crossing over stress and pain, and overcoming difficulty to reach calmer shores. It feels like a truth that I can hold on to when waters get rough and stormy.

Robert Frost said, "The best way out is always through." Well, sometimes it's also the only way out. So, that's what I'm going to do in 2019: steer through my uncertainty and my grief, and find my way to the happiness and productivity that waits on the other side.


Mackenzie Lucas

Word: Rebuild

Why This Word: As the definition states, the word rebuild means to build somehting again after it has been damaged or destroyed. I’m totally restructuring my life, from the ground up.

Why This Year: I’ve just gone through a year of tearing down, or as my tarot friends say, I’ve been towered. It’s been a year full of loss. I went through a separation and divorce this past year. My nest is totally empty—the last of my boys has gone away to college. And I lost my dad this past year; my sole surviving parent. Thus, I’m an orphan. So the new year is all about rebuilding for me. And, girl, I’ve got a lot of rebuilding to do. It’s all good, I swear. If not a little hard. A fresh start. Right? I have the chance to start at ground zero and create something fresh and new. The possibilities are limitless. Which is exciting, if a little scary. But after the year I’ve had, I think I’m ready for the challenge and chance to restructure my future. And no matter how much you prepare for eventualities (lost relationships, empty nests, and the death of loved ones), the actual life events and grieving process can be so much harder to deal with in real life than you’d ever expect. Yet, there is life on the other side. So here’s to rebuilding! Let’s do this. Bring it, 2019.

Keely Thrall

Word: Ship

Why this one: Two reasons. 1) Hello! Romance writer, here. I'm all about the ship - friendships, courtships, relationships, loveships (would should totally be a word). Shipping fictional characters to Happily Ever After Island is the core of my writing mission. 2) It's time to ship my work and give my characters a chance to explore the world beyond the contest circle.

Why this year: In 2018, I made a number of small, crucial shifts in the hows of my life (my ecosystem of habits) so that I could focus more intentionally on my writing and what I want from it. What I discovered in the process is that I'm tired of being unpublished. I'm tired of holding back and hugging the shorelines, letting doubt whisper in my ear of shipwrecks and storms. At the dawn of 2019, I say: it's time to cast off for Romancelandia. I'm ready to set sail and ride the waves of adventure to meet my fortune. I am, in fact, ready to make like a captain and ship. 

Word of the Year - 2016 Edition!

Each year, the ladies of the Rockville 8 dig deep to find a guiding word to shepherd us through the coming months. It's one of my favorite posts we do and this year I'm blown away once again by the results. Read on, then let us know what word calls to you for 2016! ~ Keely 

J. Keely Thrall
WORD: Release

WHY THIS ONE: I actually had a different word in mind - phoenix - for several weeks, as the need for rebirth and renewal in the wake of a difficult year called to me. But on Sunday I was pacing in my condo to get my step count up and I passed my deck of Angel cards. Each card has a different word printed on it that can be used for reflection and meditation. I guess I hadn't really noticed it when I picked it out before leaving for Christmas, beyond thinking the word fit in with the phoenix concept, but that moment, Release jumped into my bones and settled into place.

WHY THIS YEAR: Why Release? Because this year I'll be published - and have a real, true, "release" to share. Because this year, I'm releasing my stranglehold on some habits that no longer work for me. Because to make room for the new, I need to let go of the old. 

Because the Kraken of my creativity deserves to be unleashed upon the world. 

Evie Owens

WORD: Fling

WHY THIS ONE: Because it strikes me as off the cuff. The work of a moment. Not something that takes great thought. I live in my head and overthink the way I overthink. Take a shot. Give it a whirl. Just fling it out there and see what happens.  

WHY THIS YEAR: Why not?

Mackenzie Lucas
WORD: Core

WHY THIS ONE: Core Values. Remember what's important and build into it. Core Identity. Figure out who I am today, going into a new season of life, and embrace it. Core Strength. Build the strongest me possible to withstand the storms and celebrations life sends my way this year. 

WHY THIS YEAR: It's been a challenging year, with more challenges ahead. It's important that I focus on what's important to me, who I am in the midst of it all, and how to remain strong in order to be more than just a survivor, but a conqueror. 

Misha Crews
WORD: Wow.

WHY THIS ONE: I looked back over my words for the past few years: Forward (2012), Persist (2013), Do (2014), and Create (2015). And in each of those years, the word really did summarize my thoughts and actions for those 12 months: in 2012, I was moving forward after losing my dad so suddenly. In 2013, I was persisting with the good changes that I had started making the previous year: health-wise, family-wise and creatively. In 2014, my family and I shifted gears in a major way when we moved out of the house we'd lived in for over a decade; that was, indeed, my year of DO. And in 2015, my life has been freshly created: new town, new horizons, new healthy habits, an entirely new outlook. 

Now I want to make everything come together: gather up my loose ends and fragmented pieces, and just blow the socks off this coming year. When I look back at the end of 2016, I want to say, "Wow!"

WHY THIS YEAR: Because it's time. 

Lisa McQuay
WORD: Willow

WHY THIS ONE: “The willow which bends to the tempest, often escapes better than the oak which resists it; and so in great calamities, it sometimes happens that light and frivolous spirits recover their elasticity and presence of mind sooner than those of a loftier character.”

~Albert Schweitzer

I thought long and hard about my word for this year. Then I remembered the quote about the willow and the oak. In the past, there were times in my life where I locked my knees and resisted changes that I didn’t want. I am learning to bend with them and adapt so I can align my attitude and my actions to the situation. I don’t think that you need a “light and frivolous spirit” to do this. It can also be a conscious decision to let go of control in some situations.

I even love the way it sounds—soft, soothing and beautiful.

WHY THIS YEAR: I’ve realized that when times are hard, sometimes you have to sway with a situation, not against it. It’s exhausting to fight everything that happens to you or to rail against the circumstance. Better to move with the issue until you get through it. It’s much easier to bend with the storm than to let yourself be uprooted and toppled over.  

Nichole Christoff

WORD: Dig

WHY THIS WORD: I love this word! It's a cool word (Can you dig it?) and a working word (I'm gonna dig in!) and a word that encourages getting real (I'm gonna dig deep!) no matter what a new year might send my way.

WHY THIS YEAR: After plenty of changes over the past two years, such as a new home, a new day job, and three new novels published, I'm ready to dig what I've done (I'm enjoying all that redecorating!), dig into more projects (There are more novels to write!), and dig deeply into  the opportunities this new year will offer. 

RED

 

I recently spent a weekend sorting through my fabric bins. Grays in one pile, purple in another, low volume over there, blue over here, with sub-categories of turquoise, aqua, navy, periwinkle, and, well, blue. Same with the greens. Chartreuse, lime, emerald, mint, grass. Purples (lavender, fuchsia, grape, raspberry sorbet). Oranges that look so fabulous with blues and greens. Finally, red was divided into pinks and red. That's it. No other sub-categories. No brick and cherry and pomegranate and merlot. Just a very small pile. Obviously, I don't own a lot of red fabric. I don't tend to gravitate towards it in stores, I'm not sure I own any red clothes - well, a tee-shirt, maybe. Not much else.

When I think of the colours that I normally surround myself with, it is generally blues and greens of varying shades. Colours of the beach, of the Ireland, of the forest, of wine bottles, of leafy green vegetables, blue cheese and even Fresca. I wear green and blue almost every day from my jewelry to my reading glasses to my clothes. It makes me calm and at home, like browsing in a bookstore or sitting on the couch with my dog. Cool as a cucumber.

It is one thing to be aware of a preference or like. To know that I prefer a house that alludes more to a beach than a Victorian front parlor. But being risk adverse and in a rut can be mistaken for remaining calm and even tempered. I reached the end of last year and wondered was I any different than I had been in January? Had I gone anywhere? Tried anything new? Umm. No.

I have a strong memory of me as a child, maybe 4 years old, during show-and-tell at school. I wanted everyone to know I'd got new shoes. Red maryjanes. There's photo of me at about 2 in a blue corduroy dress, and yes, red lace up shoes. I was not always RED-adverse. I was joyful and wanted to go forward into the fun that only RED shoes could take me.

And that's why this year I am going RED. RED isn't calm. It isn't subtle or tranquil or peaceful. Don't get me wrong. I am a big fan of those things. But I am finding that action is needed in my life. Emotion. Risk. Not just to breathe but to gasp. And perhaps, like the child I was, it is time for me to put on my red shoes and go forward into whatever 2015 has for me.

2015 Word of The Year!

Keely here. I ain’t ashamed to admit it. The Word of the Year post is my favorite one to coordinate each year. So much to anticipate as we set forth into a brave new year of adventures. We’ve got a great crop of words (I’m not too humble to say “as usual.”) and we invite you to share yours. What word will dance with you in 2015, stand beside you during the rough, and celebrate your triumphs? What word will you hunker down with, take to tea, talk trash about, high five? What word will help you frame the coming year, bring you comfort, light your fire, sing you to sleep?

What is YOUR 2015 Word of the Year?

Here are ours:

Keely Thrall: Mmm

I debated. Should I repurpose last year’s word (clearing—sure could use more of that)? Should I go with agency (a little cerebral, a little bit rock and roll)? Or should I take the hedonist’s route and go with mmm. Say it with me now, mmm. It hums in one’s throat, rich on the palette like dark chocolate or a fine wine. Mmm. Mmm is a bit of a cheat. But a heartfelt, soul-deep one. It stands for Meditate, Move, and Make. A heady triptych I’ll be aiming for each day: Time in the morning and night to calm and clarify my mind, like melting butter (mmmmeditate). Time to put my body into high gear, make it boogie, give it a whirl (mmmmove).  Time to write, to cook, to explore other hobbies, to place a phone call to a friend, to volunteer for causes I believe in. To be an agent of change and creation (mmmmake). Mmm, wow. That feels good. Mmm-hm.

Nichole Christoff: Savor

Throughout 2014, I tried to stick to my Work of the Year. I tried to breath! And it worked…sometimes. But then I got what so many of us have been working toward: a publishing contract! How awesome! The contract added so much to my 2014. This year, though, with this contract in my life, I want to do more than breath. I want to savor what I’ve worked so hard to have. You see, to me, “to savor” means taking my time and really enjoying the amazing as well as the everyday. So that’s my goal! I want to savor all the events of 2015 from special occurrences to ordinary days and every good thing in between. Savor is my 2015 Word of the Year.

Marjanna Bogan: Red

I want a RED year. RED evokes action. Emotion. Joy. Anger. Luck. Love. It is a color that people notice. It is big. It draws focus. You can’t ignore RED. It is eye-catching. It is present. You want to follow the RED balloon. You add spice with RED chiles. You want to drive the little RED corvette. You want to wear the RED lipstick. You don’t trifle with RED or condescend to RED. You want to revel in RED. And sometimes, you just SEE RED. Pink is for princesses, but RED is for women. I want to be RED in 2015.

Evie Owens: Fool

After much deliberation (and consultation with my friend Deborah), I have chosen Fool for my word of the year. And NOT just because it’s a four-letter word that start with “F.” Ha ha.

Deborah suggested it because, well, because she KNOWS me and everything I’ve been struggling with over the years, and she thinks what I need more than anything is to channel the energy of The Fool card from the tarot deck.

When I looked it up, I found this quote: “The Fool is a powerful card because its possibilities all start in nothingness and reach into infinity.” (http://www.keen.com/articles/tarot/the-fool-tarot-card)

Because yes. Everything considered, I seem to ever be starting over. And that feeling, that I’ve got nothing to start with (which really IS just a feeling because all evidence says otherwise!) blocks me. It stops me from taking action, and as Deborah always says, “The universe rewards action.” And The Fool is all about taking action. The Fool doesn’t dither. The Fool sets out, unprepared, unplanned, into the unknown. I need channel me some of that!

So THEN I looked up the word “fool” and found that, along with the “silly or stupid” stuff, it ALSO refers to a “professional jester, formerly kept by a person of royal or noble rank for amusement: the court fool.” (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/fool)

Which appeals to me because ultimately, I want to make my living entertaining people as a writer.

What a foolish thing to say, in this universe….

Misha Crews: Create

It's been said that the best way to predict the future is to create it. For the past few years, I’ve been playing catch-up with my own soul: trying to chase down the person I always meant to be, and the life I always meant to have. As 2014 came to a close, I let go of my preconceptions about who and where I should be at this point in my life. In 2015, I am going to concentrate on creating the future by living in the present: with family and friends, artistically and spiritually. It's going to be a great year!

Mackenzie Lucas: Build

My word of the year is Build. To build you need to be strategic, to be intentional—you need to lay plans and stick to them if you expect those dreams to develop into a full-blown, physical representation of your goals. That’s what I want to do this year as I continue to develop my writing career. I have a strong foundation. I published two books with Soul Mate Publishing this past year. It’s been a good, solid year. I’ve grown and stretched myself not only with my personal and professional development, but with my craft limitations, too. I wrote and completed six projects in 2014. I’ll be publishing two of those books with Soul Mate early this year—February 26^th and March 4^th, and I have a few other things in the works for those unsold manuscripts. I’m planning to write books two and three of three different series in 2015. I’m eager to jump into those projects in the next few weeks. Is my blueprint ambitious? Yes, you betcha. But most architects are ambitious, because they have to be if they want their buildings to stand, to be experienced, to be lived and worked in. The only way for me to have the career I want is to implement a solid plan for moving ahead and building that career. What about you? What are you building this year?

Lisa McQuay: Stretch

I have a new supervisor with the energy of ten women half her age. A few weeks ago, she announced that she would like me to become certified in a certain area and said that it would be a "stretch goal" for me. Normally, I can't stand those business buzz words -- ASAP and describing an organization as "my shop" leap readily to mind -- but something clicked with me when she said it. Stretching means reaching for the limit without breaking. You have to be flexible to stretch, not so stuck in your ways that you can't move. You have to want to learn, to try new things, to use your potential and gifts to their utmost. Stretching isn't always comfortable but I want to reach new goals and in order to do that I have to move in ways that I haven't before. I feel ready to spread my wings and fly. So, this year, I want to stretch so that I can reach for things that previously I was not able to touch. 

So, this motley collection of words will guide the ladies of the Rockville 8 through the collection of seasons much of the world will label 2015. Do you have a guiding word or words to add to our pot? The more spices you add, the tastier our collective year will become!

I love a good C word

The first time we all chose a word for the year, my best friend, Deborah, told me my word should be "open." I can only hope that Deborah didn't know when she gave it to me that it would require being BROKEN open. Ahem.

Last year, the word that kept coming to mind seemed particularly ridiculous considering my recently broken open state. But when I told my friend, Ava Miles, that I was searching for my Word for the Year and she came up with the same ridiculous word -- LOVE -- I decided it was fate.

Just for the record, "Love" worked a lot better than "Open" -- or at least it made me happier this past year than the word "open" made me the year before. Of course, "open" set an extremely low bar...yes, 2012, I'm looking at you...

But this year when I was talking to Ava she immediately said, "Your word this year is YES!"

And I am not ashamed to tell you that my reaction was immediate and emphatic: NO.

No! No. And oh, by the way? NO.

Which meant that I now had to come up with my word all by myself. And I did! I came up with "connect." A perfectly good word. If not related to "yes" it is at least "yes" adjacent. It's "yes" with a few amendments. "Yes" with an eye to quality over quantity.

So I feel good about this year. And I feel good about this word. And while I'm at it, here are a couple of other C words that I'm feeling good about right now...

Commit
I pulled out all the stops a while back, trying to finish up my novella for the Once and Forever anthology. But after I turned that in, the holidays hit and I haven't gotten back to my writing practice. So this afternoon, while Deborah and I were waiting for The Desolation of Smaug to hit the big screen, we decided that what we needed -- other than some hot dwarf action...was to make a commitment. And so we did. This Thursday after work I shall progress to an undisclosed Panera location to work on my YA book, Witch Boy.

Witch Boy is finished. Mostly. It needs just a little reworking before it's good to go and come this Thursday I shall commence with the reworking. Oh, see what I did there? Commence! A word which begins with a C.

And which brings us to my next and final C word for this post!

Cover
By a stroke of magickal good fortune I've connected with a wonderful cover artist and we are now, even as I type, finalizing the cover for Witch Boy.

This is already a good year.

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.

 

 

 

 

 

Ring in the New Year With a Word

Photo Credit: 123RF

Instead of making wishes or New Year's resolutions, we each claim a word to focus on for the coming year. What follows is our chronicle of this year's reclaimation--The Eight's Word of the Year for 2013!

Keely
My word this time around is Bounce! Punctuation most definitely included. I choose bounce because it captures three essential components I want to embody in the coming year:

1. The Tigger Bounce! Tigger is joyful, ebullient, and bounces along to his own idiosyncratic rhythm. Sounds like an excellent role model to me.

2. The Weeble-Wobble Bounce! Weebles wobble, but they don’t fall down. They bounce right back up. They are resilient, if egg-shaped. To counter my writerly propensity for egg-shapedness, I end with . . .

3. The Trampoline Bounce! Perhaps the most prosaic on my bounces, this one implies movement, action. Exercise. Kind of necessary, kind of dull. But, come on, it’s a trampoline. By law, that makes this bounce fun, desirable, and addictive. Right? Yes, most assuredly right.

Keely, who looks forward to bouncing her way through 2013!

Shellie
My word this year is Attentive. In the story of my life, the internal goal of writing well, completing manuscripts and getting them published is constantly threatened and derailed by the external conflict--that is, my life. As family, career, and community activism heats up for me, I will have to be attentive to claiming and protecting my writing time.

Nichole
After a 2012 full on changes, I intend to get my groove on in 2013. Therefore, Groove is my Word of the Year. In the past year, I had a blast scrambling to finish my master's degree, signing with my agent, and plowing through revisions. I also struggled to take care of family after loved ones passed away, major surgeries sidelined those close to me, and Mr. Christoff got ready to take on new professional challenges. Now, as we all ring in the new year, I'm looking forward to settling into a new groove, with a new manuscript, new experiences, and even a brand new house to call home. I'm getting my groove on this year!

Lisa
My word for this year is Trust. I need to trust in the writing process. Trust that the words will come when I need them. Trust that whatever needs to be worked out in my story will work out. Trust in my own instincts and abilities. Trust enables people to do great things.

Yvonne
When Candy first prompted me to start thinking about my word for the year, a word immediately popped into my head. But it was the unlikeliest word I could have come up with. Laughable. Ridiculous. As the days slid by, though, it kept coming up.

Then, a couple of weekends ago, out for dinner with a friend, I told her I needed help coming up with a word for the year. She thought for a minute and said: Love.

"Get OUT," I said, slapping the table.
"What? Why can't love be your word for the year?"
I just shook my head. "Because . . . it kicks my ass!"

Which explains everything, right? So we'll see how this word works out for me. I make no predictions. I've attached no preconceptions to it. Particularly considering how well the word “open” worked for me last year . . .

Misha
My word for 2013 is Persist. Sometimes the universe throws a up a lot of roadblocks: money or job trouble, loss of family or friends, health concerns, or even just the countless pesky inconveniences we encounter every day. But when you're headed in a good direction, you've got to keep going. Climb over, navigate around, push through. Continue steadfastly in your course. Persist. So that's my word for the coming year.

Marjanna
Hope is my word for 2013. I believe one day pigs will fly.

Candy
Once again this year I have two words. My words for 2013 are: Strength and Surrender. Strength as it pertains to body, mind, and spirit—practicing holistic health and a continuation of my development of balance from the past year. And surrender as in, well, yielding control. I’m a control freak, so there are times that I dig my feet in and fight even when the fight just isn’t worth it. This year I’d like to surrender to the journey (at least a little, when it’s appropriate) and enjoy myself instead of stressing over being in the driver’s seat.

Ready, Willing, and Able

As a writer, I thought I’d heard of every seminar under the sun. But a friend of mine has me beat. Not long ago, she told me about the Ready Seminar. In case you haven’t heard of it, it goes something like this:

This new year, say you hope to find your significant other. Your ideal partner. Your soul mate. According to the seminar leader, you need to go home and clear out half your closet. Empty half your medicine cabinet as well. Slide your DVD collection to the side and make room on half the shelf. Why? So you’ll be ready for Mr. Right when he comes along. Because once you’re ready, he will come along.

Now, truth be told, it would take more than someone showing up on my doorstep to make me toss half the contents of my closet. And really, I’m not sure this seminar is going to put professional matchmakers out of business. But I didn’t let that prevent me from latching onto the moral of the story. What is it? It’s simply this: be ready.

Ready, ladies and gentlemen, is my word for 2012. (For more on the Rockville 8 and our Words of the Year, see Keely’s post which kicked off this series.) Now, that doesn’t mean I’m already ready for everything. But it does mean I intend to identify my heart’s desire, and do the prep work ahead of time so when Opportunity comes knocking, I can open the door with confidence.

And wonder of wonders, Opportunity has already come calling. A literary agent recently offered me representation. When she wanted to discuss a course of action for my manuscript, when she sent the representation agreement, and when she sent her first revision letter, it hit me. All that reading, all those workshops, all that writing I’ve done over the years—all of it made me ready for this step.

Wow.

Now, I want to be ready for the next time Opportunity knocks. I want to be able to grasp that doorknob, give it an assured twist, and invite Opportunity in. So I’ll be working on being ready throughout 2012. Will you join me in being ready for the good things coming your way? What’s your heart’s desire this year? How can you prepare to take that step? Tell the R8. We’d love to know!

Word Up!

Happy New Year, friends!

Have you ever chosen a word for your year? A word to serve as touchstone, ballast, gateway to meditation or the like? A few years ago, some of my writer pals started the practice. That year, I coopted a word that a lot of folks selected – fearless. As in: be fearless in writing that shitty first draft. Be fearless in entering the Golden Heart. Be fearless in your queries and your pitches and the pursuit of your dreams. It helped me to frame my questions: am I doing xx or not doing xx out of fear? Knowing the answer to that didn’t always have an impact on my actions, but it sure provided a keen understanding of how I moved through the world.

Fearless was a good word.

The next year, my boss announced his retirement and the word I landed upon was change. I had a bead with the word hanging from my cell – word of the year as phone bling! When one friend caught sight of the bead, she asked me why I thought I needed to change. For me, for that span of time (in this case, I kept the word for a couple of years), my WOTY helped me remember simply that change is inevitable. Change happens. Change in and of itself is neither positive nor negative. It just is. But how I react to change? That’s on me.

Last fall, I laid out a few scenarios of what the months from September through December could look like as we said goodbye to the old boss and welcomed the new. I didn’t like the one where I used pizza and adult beverages as stress relief. That nightmare vision helped me make a change of my own – and to date, I’ve lost around sixty-five pounds.

Yay for change!

When this year rolled around, I knew it was time for a new word. I have a tendency to hibernate from the world. I think a little of that is okay – gotta recharge the old batteries, right? But the more I hibernate, the harder it is for me to snap out of stasis.

So after a lot of deliberation, I chose engaged. Engaged in writing. Engaged in healthy living. Engaged in the warp and weft of my life and the lives of my friends and family. Now I can ask myself: does xx keep me engaged with my dreams/goals/hopes/life? The answer may not always be yes. But the answer will always inform my next decision.

Engaged in self-awareness!

All words are on the table. I think the only rule is: choose a word that resonates with you. My mom picked kind, because she’d like to be kinder to herself this year. One writing friend opted for simplify. My runner-up word this year was dance.

So what’s your word of the year?