New year, new words, same me

The best way to start a new year is to wake up. Thereafter, any activity will do. Engage in this year with eyes open, heart open and mind open and there’s a fighting chance that you’ll make it through the 365 days with some learning, some fun and some rewards. At least, that is what I am hoping for as 2023 begins its spin around the sun.

As last week’s post explained, I like to choose a word or two as a hook on which to hang my approach to a new year. Sometimes the word comes to me after serious contemplation, sometimes it arises spontaneously, and sometimes I rely on the crutch of a social media trend to kickstart my process. So it was this year.

This photo maze (left) was making the rounds on Facebook and I played along. I looked at the grid of seemingly random letters within which are hidden actual words, and the first four words my eyes focused on were LESSON. LOVE. CHANGE. SELF-CARE. Argh, I thought. Not exactly words I would have come up with myself. So, I looked again. This time I saw: POWER and BREAKTHROUGH. Those sat better with me, but should I really argue with the wisdom of a word maze discovered on Facebook? Yes, yes, I decided, I definitely absolutely should, so I’m using all six and, in fact, adding two more: EXPAND and EXPLORE.

Of those eight words, the two that mean the most to me are the last two I added without reference to the word maze — expand and explore: I want to expand my writing and teaching scope, and I want to explore new options for this blog. How lesson, love, change, self-care, power or breakthrough figure into those (or any) plans as they unfold remains to be seen, but, surely, with this multiplicity of words hanging on my 2023 hook, I will always have at least one word to build on.

You may notice that my word collage (right) also includes EGO vs. EGOTISTICAL in the bottom right quadrant. I’ve added those in to keep clear in both my mind and my actions the important distinction between the two words. Simply put, ego refers to one’s sense of self or self-worth, while egotistical means being full of oneself or having an exaggerated sense of self-importance. While ego is essential, being egotistical is to be avoided. Without ego, I would not be writing or submitting my writing for publication anywhere, ever; however, I want to be mindful about when, where and how I speak of and write about any successes, as it can be a fine line between reporting a win and boasting about it. Let me know if I ever cross that line, will you? Thanks.

My best wishes to you for a good year in 2023, however you might define it. 

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Land acknowledgement: I respectfully recognize that I live on the original lands of Anishinaabe, Cree, Oji-Cree, Dakota and Dene peoples, and on the homeland of the Métis Nation.