Word of the Year – Page 3

2019: Energy

January 16, 2019

If the first couple weeks are any indication, it feels like 2019 is going to fly by just as quickly as the last few years have felt! I’ve always read that as you get older, time starts to feel like it speeds up, and now I’m starting to experience that for myself. Funnily enough, a lot of the goals I’ve set for myself are, upon reflection, ways for me to counteract the year going by so rapidly by bringing more fun, joy and richness to my days and by capturing their sweetness.

My word for 2019 is ENERGY, and all of my goals relate to my word in one way or another. Throughout 2018 I felt tired and a bit scattered, like my energy was being drained by certain responsibilities and relationships in ways that weren’t healthy for me. I was left feeling like I needed to protect my energy more carefully, as well as find ways to restore and re-energize after stressful situations.

Practically speaking, this year I chose my word and then centred all my goals around that word, finding various facets of the word energy that I wanted to embody over the next 12 months. I ended up with six different categories that each have three goals or intentions within them – which is a lot of goals! But for this year, it feels good, and I have systems in place to make them happen. If you’re curious to learn more about how I set goals this year, I also talked about the process on my podcast a couple weeks back!

Physical Energy

I want to feel more rested, more limber, and more energetic throughout the day. I want to really take care of my body and make sure I’m giving it the fuel and sleep it needs to feel good and healthy. And most importantly, I want to feel more attuned to my body and its signals and make sure I’m giving it what it needs.

1. Be in bed without technology by 10:30PM every weeknight and 11:30PM every weekend night

I want to make this habit a lot stronger, because the truth is that if I don’t get off my phone by this time of night I wind up staying up way longer than I know I should. Instead, I want to establish a firm technology bedtime, go to bed, and start reading instead. That way I’ll read more books and get drowsy at an appropriate time.

2. Move intentionally every day

This can look a lot of different ways: a long walk in nature, a quick run after work, a dance party in my apartment, a yoga class…anything that represents me specifically and intentionally taking time out of my schedule to move. Walking to the grocery store is great, but it doesn’t count for me in this resolution.

3. Create a binder of fun, healthy meal ideas

One of the tough parts of living alone is needing to prepare every single meal for yourself! I often run out of good ideas and get tired, meaning I wind up making a sandwich or tacos five nights of the week. No bueno! By putting some fun ideas into a binder, I’m hoping I’ll have more inspiration for meals that are easy but healthy.

Source Energy

I want to spend more time tapping into my source through the kinds of reflective and introspective activities that I know light me up and make me feel good. The goals and intentions in this category are designed to reconnect me to myself and to that well of wisdom within me (just like the one within you!).

1. Meditate every morning for at least 5 minutes

This is a continuation of a habit I’ve kept up for the past several years: last year alone I meditated for more than 50 hours!! Even though I rarely feel enthusiastic about my meditation practice, I know it’s helpful so I want to keep it up.

2. Read 100 books

Since 2013 I’ve read 75 books a year, and I think I’m ready to take it up a notch! This year, all bets are off and I’ll be reading lots of audio, lots of fiction, and lots of anything I want. No rules for me! You can track my progress on Goodreads here.

3. Write more reflective blog posts & journal entries

This is an intention rather than a goal, as I won’t be monitoring or tracking it. My hope is that by putting it on the list, I’ll turn to writing more often as a tool to help me work through things or process my thoughts. It’s such an invaluable part of my life, but one that I’d love to be accessing a bit more often.

Guard Energy

The biggest issue I faced in 2018 was keeping my energy safely protected from energy vampires: and I was not always successful. This year, I won’t let that happen again. Instead, I’ll be finding ways to protect my time and space and ensure that I’m only using my energy on things and people that really light me up.

1. Say no to things that aren’t aligned or that feel forced, tiring, or sticky

Another intention, because I’m positive I’ll slip up on this one and have to readjust as I go. Guarding my energy is a constant learning process and I don’t always get it right the first time, but giving myself grace with this means that I can hold it in my mind and not feel apologetic for taking my time and meeting my own needs.

2. Have one ‘mevening’ per week

I love the term “mevening”, which was coined by my friend Moni – it basically refers to any night you take intentionally for yourself to experience all your favourite solo activities. Having a name for it instantly reframes it in my mind and makes me want ALL the cozy mevenings to myself! Some weeks are crazy, so I want to put mevenings in the calendar and actively track to make sure I’m getting one weeknight mevening each week.

3. Do an activity audit monthly

I want to make it a habit to re-evaluate my commitments and obligations on a monthly basis, to upgrade or downgrade anything that might need adjustment at any given time. I will be using Modern Planner’s Activity Audit exercise for this, most likely on post-its or on a special Asana board I’ll make for the purpose.

Follow Energy

I recently found out that I’m a Generator in the Human Design framework, which essentially means that my superpower is noticing and responding to things that light up my energy and following those things as much as I can. I find this idea very inspiring, since any time I’ve done this in the past, it’s led to big positive shifts and a lot of inspired action on big projects that suddenly feel so easy to launch. If it works so well, why not follow it more carefully?

1. Create a list of what lights me up most

This can be added to over time, but just like Jess Lively has her alignment time, I can use these things as prompts to bring me back into a place of more energy and excitement.

2. Create a daily energy reminder check-in on my phone

I’ve set this up and it’s going off every day at 3:30PM, a time of day that typically is a lower point in terms of my energy. Two weeks into the year, it’s been interesting to have that brief touch point to see how I’m doing on any given day and to simply notice how much it can vary from day to day based on what I’m doing.

3. Only take inspired action as much as possible

Obviously this is an intention, because this would be fairly hard to measure or track! But I think that intending to take inspired action as much as I possibly can is a fairly good resolution for 2019. To me, inspired action feels like things are flowing, exciting, interesting, and like there’s a conveyor belt under my feet. Not always possible, but when it hits, it’s magic.

Restore Energy

I’ve realized that I’m very good at spending my energy, and often do so on things, people and projects that I find fun and rewarding. What I’m not so good at is taking the time to replenish and restore my energy in ways that don’t necessarily feel “practical”. I have a hard time sitting down to watch TV or a movie, because I constantly feel guilty that I should be doing something more productive! The goals & resolutions here are in direct opposition to this not-so-nice part of my nature.

1. Be leisurely & luxurious in my everyday life

I find that I’m often racing through my days like I have someone timing me with a stopwatch. I want to counteract this with the intention to be more leisurely in my days: when I’m eating, during my morning routine, when I’m reading, when I’m relaxing. I want to take the time to light the candle, dim the lights, put on some nice music and chop up herbs to put on top of my food. Doesn’t that just feel more pleasant? Because the truth is, I do have time, I just don’t always take it.

2. Schedule one special fun thing a month

In the spirit of the bucket lists I used to create, I want to get one special, out of the ordinary activity on the calendar for each month of 2019. This could be something like taking a new hike, or going to an exhibition, or even just going to the movies, since that’s something I don’t normally do. I love that I have the flexibility to choose the activity, but the structure to make sure it’s monthly.

3. Buy one thing per month that feels luxurious or pleasurable

I’m a notorious underbuyer, which means that I’m not very good at spending money, even when money would make my daily life more pleasant or enjoyable. To combat this tendency of mine, I’m giving myself the “goal” of spending out on one thing (big or small!) that feels like a luxury – a want, not a need. Since this doesn’t come naturally to me, it feels very fun to start brainstorming the types of things that might fall under this category – and most of them are not even that expensive!

Creative Energy

Last but certainly not least, I want to make time and space for my creative energy to shine through in 2019! Being creative is one of the best ways I know to feel more energetic and fulfilled, and yet I don’t always give it the time I know it deserves. I’m hoping to change that over the next 12 months with these resolutions.

1. Do 1 Second Everyday

This is one of my favourite projects because it’s so easy but brings so much more mindfulness and whimsy into my daily life. I regretted not doing it in 2018 so I’m excited to have re-started for 2019 and already it’s bringing me so much joy.

2. Create two seasons of the Life In Limbo podcast

This is well underway and I’m loving it! Starting this podcast was a long-time goal of mine and it’s felt so good to actually launch it and make time for it each week. I also love that I’m giving myself breaks from the show when it feels like an overwhelming season of life. I can’t wait to see what comes of the show in 2019 – I already have some very fun ideas for guests and topics in store!

3. Take more photos of my everyday life

I don’t know another way to say it: I’m just happier when I’m taking more photos and capturing more of the details of my daily life. In university I was blogging more, so I was taking more photos of my life and apartment, and I treasure those memories so much. I love where I’m living now, but I don’t take photos to commemorate this season and I know I’ll regret not having them if I don’t start now. More photos in 2019!

And there you have it! All my goals and intentions for 2019. I’m tracking most of these in Asana, which is the project management software I use for both my personal and business goals. I’m also making use of Elise’s daily habit tracker for all my daily goals, because it’s fun to watch those little circles add up over time. I can’t wait to see how these goals affect my year, and whether or not they make me feel more aware of my energy in 2019. Here’s hoping!

You can read more about my words from the last few years below:

2018 In Review

December 31, 2018

It’s that time of year again! My favourite time: the part when I get to look back on the past 12 months and think about what I’m grateful for and what I’ve learned.

The first thing that comes to mind when I think about 2018 is: “OOF. That was a big one.” So much change, so much growth, so many lessons. New friends, new opportunities, new experiences. Lots of powerful shifts, lots of laughter, and more candlelight than possibly I have ever experienced before (thanks Sonja!).

Here is my recap of 2018 – this is admittedly mostly a highlight reel, but please know that there was a lot of pain and fear and a record-high number of growing pains this year too.

January

2018 started with a beautiful Nurture Harvest Table Dinner in collaboration with our friend Salimah to celebrate her company, Artery. I went to concerts and parties and yoga classes and book clubs. I started dating again. I did the 7 minute workout every single day. I held down the fort at With/out Pretend while Erin was on vacation. I remember that it was a quiet month that felt full of potential.

February

In February, the year started to pick up steam. I went to a powerful dance class, and a fun craft workshop and tried Beyography for the first time. I started a certification program for a framework I care about deeply. The big highlight of February was going to my first Peasant’s Feast, a talent show-style party that my friend Erin throws every year. I memorized and performed a poem that means a lot to me and it was such a wonderful experience to share it with everyone there.

March

My favourite part of March of this year was getting to be on-site support for the Etsy Team Captains Summit thanks to Erin (I am sensing a theme here, Erin!!). It was SO fun to discover that I love being a part of helping events run smoothly and being the point person to solve problems. March also held some business challenges for me and led a clarification of who I was working with, which was great, in the end. At the end of March my friends and I all joined Sonja for the day at the gorgeous space she’d rented for a day retreat that painfully did not happen – I chatted with her about the experience in our podcast episode later in the year.

April

Damn, April. This month was the catalyst for everything that happened for me for the rest of the year. Most significantly, Sonja, Moni and I held a mini retreat in Almonte at The Happinest, Moni’s beautiful home. We tackled our businesses, worked through things in our personal lives, and collectively made some BIG changes. That was the moment when I shifted the ways I work with people as well as so many other aspects of my life. The other highlight of April was throwing my first house concert for my birthday – it was such a glowing and love-filled night.

May

In May, I launched my podcast! How fun is that? This project had been in my heart for YEARS and it felt so good to put it out into the world, starting by interviewing my friend Laura who I used to have a podcast with (full circle!). Already it’s given me so much joy and enabled so many wonderful conversations. We also celebrated my grandma’s 90th birthday, which felt like such a gift. In May I also started the process of hiring an assistant at one of the companies I worked with since I had been promoted several months earlier without someone new being hired – this was a big step and helped my sanity tremendously.

June

June was fun. I watched my baby sister graduate from university, which was fun and emotional. I got to introduce Raffi (!) onstage in concert, which was trippy. And then, most notably, I had my photoshoot with Amber Ellis of Creating Light Photography. Second only to the retreat I took in April, I would say that this one experience did the most to change my life and business in 2018. Working with her, being seen in that way, stepping into shoes I didn’t feel *quite* ready to fill: it was magic.

July

My favourite memories from July involve being up at a cottage on a big, beautiful lake, watching Wicked with my sister, having a boisterous birthday dinner for my dad downtown, and the experience of fully understanding just how much my friends love me, which happened when I got my heart broken. That shit is powerful, let me tell you and I’ll cry again if I think about it for too long. Another favourite memory is my plane touching down in New York, hugging Katie for the first time, and almost instantly laughing through my tears. I have the best friends in the world.

August

Well I can’t lie: August was a hard one, because of the aforementioned heartbreak. But it was full of so much goodness too: Time in New York City, one of my favourite cities on earth, with one of my favourite people. Speaking at Unresolved Feelings in Montreal and feeling a part of something bigger than myself. Launching The Vault, a magazine I am beyond proud to have been a part of creating. Having a boudoir photoshoot (I am no longer comfortable recommending the place where I had mine done, but would 100% recommend the experience in general!) and getting those pictures back. Going to house concerts in gorgeous backyards. Working with amazing clients. Helping one of my friends choose an engagement ring for another friend. Playing hooky and escaping to the Island for the day with women who get it. Actually, on second thought, August was pretty amazing.

September

September was so, so sweet. We launched Nurture: Fall 2018, and we sold it out within the month. We threw Erin a surprise party two months early, and she was actually surprised! We celebrated an early Thanksgiving with my family because my sister was moving to North Carolina for a work training program. I did some dogsitting for my mom while they were away, which meant almost a full week in my peaceful happy place with the cutest dog on earth. I went for a few really nice hikes with friends. I healed a lot, and I was happy.

October

And just like that, it was October! Seriously, that was fast. In October, we held the launch party for The Vault at the adorable Queen Books. I interviewed my friend Ameema for the podcast and got to visit the headquarters of Chapters Indigo, which was SO much fun. I launched my first product, The Appothecary, and was the expert speaker at our Tuesdays Together meeting! Both Sonja and Erin renovated a room of their homes (one a dining room, the other an office), and it was fun to be a part of the furniture shopping/furniture building/organization process and to see the beautiful results. And of course we had a ton of fun at my family’s annual pumpkin carving competition (I came in 4th place).

November

Nothing like ending the year with a bang, right? November was full to bursting with wonderful things. From the top: the Nurture Harvest Table Dinner was celebrating With/out Pretend, which meant that I got to reflect on how lucky I am to know both these incredible friends, and to work with both of these amazing companies. It was a joy. Then, I threw my first-ever workshop, which was nerve-wracking and wonderful and so much fun. Laura and I went to see Glennon Doyle. The next weekend, Katie was visiting and we had a whirlwind visit involving Body Blitz, tarot-card-buying, lots of dip, and a tiny amount of burlesque. The following weekend was Nurture: Fall 2018 which was beautiful, magical, tiring, and wonderful. Then it was my mom’s birthday! So much love and so much joy.

December

And then we come to December! One of my favourite parts of December was Dark Eggnog, a lovely house concert that my friend Salimah throws every year with lots of clementines and some seriously dangerous eggnog. After that, I got a very bad cold and was mostly exhausted for the rest of the month, but still managed to get a lot done, including launching The Foundery, celebrating Sonja’s birthday, doing a one-day mini retreat (small but mighty!!), going wedding dress shopping with Laura, and spending a particularly nice Christmas at home with my family.

Firsts of 2018

I always intend to keep a better record of this throughout the year, but in the end I have to rely on my (faulty) memory!

First time running my own workshop
First time being an ‘expert speaker’
First time speaking at a storytelling event
First (and second!) professional photoshoots
First time trying Zumba
First time working with a big multinational company
First time throwing a house concert
First tarot deck
First time offering consulting services
First time hiring anyone
First time introducing a performer on stage
First time listening to music on a pirate ship
First time working with someone who was previously a stranger
First time going ring shopping + wedding dress shopping
First time trying the Turkey and the Wolf Collard Melt (omg.)
First time going to a music festival by myself
First time going to The Island Café
First time starting a mastermind group

2018 By The Numbers

75 books read
78 blog posts written
64 Instagram posts
294 days of morning meditation (which adds up to 50 HOURS!?!?)
21 podcast episodes released

Goals & Intentions

Read 75 books

As usual, December was a bit of a push (including a couple of audiobooks and a couple of shorter books), but I was so pleased with my reading year in 2018. So many good books! You can see everything I read in 2018 here.

Choose a monthly theme

I kept this up for about half the year, and it was a fun way to structure my goals and intentions for each month! Things dropped off around June when the rest of my life picked up, and that’s totally fine. Before then, I had themes like “body”, “femininity”, and “style” which were all really helpful and fun to focus on.

Keep a daily logbook

This is one of my favourite new practices! As someone who finds it difficult to remember daily life, I love having a record of every single day from 2018. I copied Austin Kleon’s method (and notebook!) and plan to continue doing this next year, not as a goal but as a daily habit.

Meditate every morning

As I mentioned above, I didn’t get to 365 but I came closer than I probably ever have before at 294! When I saw my number for the year in the Stats section of the app I use, the first thing that popped into my head was the expression, “little by little, one travels far”. Somehow without noticing it, I meditated for 50 hours in 2018, which is some kind of miracle. It was rarely fun or easy or zen, but it was always ultimately helpful, and I plan to keep this up next year too.

Spend more time with family

I’m going to say yes to this intention, I did spend more family time this year. But I could be doing more, especially when it comes to my sisters and my grandparents. I’d love to make this more of a focus for 2019.

Have a digital detox monthly

This definitely did not happen! I felt more addicted to my phone than ever. But I also continued my habit of putting my phone on airplane mode before bed and not switching it off until I’d gotten some work done most days, so that was helpful.

Devote more time & love to cooking

Also: no. I did not do this at all! If anything, this year was worse than previous years for me throwing things together and not doing a good job of feeding myself. It’s on the list for 2019, this time with some more concrete action steps I can take.

Make my home my happy place

Slowly but surely, this is happening! I’ve gotten rid of a lot of items that I didn’t love, or that were broken, and that has made a big difference – I’m now surrounded by objects I love and find meaningful. My home feels cozy and comforting, and I’m making it more special all the time.

My Word of the Year: Flow

I loved this word for this particular year, and I think in retrospect it really served me well for 2018. As always, I kind of lost track of my word partway through the year (it’s inevitable!!) but I found it again in the Fall and fell in love with it all over again. When I set intentions around this word, my main focuses were to go with the flow, not force things to work if they weren’t working, and choose to spend time in flow activities. And on all these counts, I’d say it was a success! I had a lot of amazing opportunities flow my way this year, without having to force them. I also took a lot of inspired action, when it felt like I had a moving sidewalk under my feet as I walked – yes, I still had to take all the steps, but I had help. And finally I felt like I was in flow a lot of the time, especially when doing new things like speaking to a group, recording podcast episodes both by myself and with friends, getting lost in great books, and building new projects for myself and my clients. Flow was a wonderful word, and I am so grateful for it.

All in all, 2018 was one for the books. I experienced a lot of love and a lot of learning, and what could be better than that? As always when I write these posts, I’m left feeling nothing but grateful for this magical, wonderful, weird and crazy thing called life that I’m lucky enough to experience. It’s unfolding in ways I never could have predicted or imagined, and I cannot wait to see what 2019 has in store. I am wishing you, and myself, such a Happy New Year. We are the lucky ones and these are the days.

If you’re curious, you can see more of my year-end reviews here:

2017 | 2016 | 2015 | 2014 | 2013 | 2012 | 2011

2018 Goals & Intentions

January 14, 2018

We’re two weeks into 2018, and so far the year is off to a great start, wouldn’t you say? Despite the crazy, bone-chilling weather here in Toronto, life in 2018 has been pretty wonderful so far. I always love how a new calendar year feels like a blank page and an opportunity to invite in new ideas, routines or intentions for the next 12 months. It’s also interesting to see what seems to naturally fall away as the calendar page flips over.

I’ve written recently about how I haven’t been feeling moved lately to set many long-term goals. When I looked ahead to 2018, nothing stood out to me as an outcome I felt that I desperately needed to make happen or an achievement I wanted to create. This is a pretty foreign feeling, given how many years I spent setting buckets of goals for myself as carrots on sticks to keep me moving forward. That being said, I had no trouble coming up with intentions for how I want to spend more of my time, energy and money this year.

Goals

Read 75 books

The goal that will never go away! Having a reading goal each year is really just a way to keep me on task with making time for a hobby that I love and find so deeply fulfilling…but which I can easily be distracted from by the numerous glowing screens in my life. Having a concrete number to aim for helps me take time for reading, which is also one of the best ways I get into flow. I track my progress on Goodreads, so you can always see what I’m reading here!

Choose a monthly theme

I’m actually crazy-excited about this ‘goal’, which represents a great mix of being intentional but also going with the flow of my life. I’ll choose a theme right before the new month starts, based on what I’m feeling like I want to devote more energy, money and time to for the following month. Depending on the theme, I’ll set some sub-goals for myself just for that month, in an attempt to jumpstart my progress in areas that need a little more love or attention. At the end of the month, I’ll give myself permission to re-evaluate, stop whatever’s not working, and hold onto whatever I really loved from that month’s theme.

January’s theme has been Body, and it has been SO MUCH FUN to give my body some love in all kinds of different ways: new forms of exercise, getting a massage, daily dance parties, trying new recipes, buying myself bubble bath, etc. I can already tell how much joy this monthly themed goal-setting practice will bring me.

Keep a daily logbook

I stole this idea from Austin Kleon, who has kept a daily logbook for 10 years! It’s also kind of a riff on my Grandma’s journaling practice: she’s written a couple quick lines each day about what happened that day in a basic agenda for years. She can look up events and happenings going back to when my mom was a kid, just by looking the day up in her calendar. I am so inspired by this idea, so I am starting this year following Austin’s format outlined here – complete with my own crappy doodles to accompany each bullet point! I’ve only done it for 13 days so far but it’s already so lovely to flip back and notice little details I have ALREADY forgotten. What I’m reading, eating, buying, seeing, talking about: these are things I like to remember.

Meditate every morning

I’m very proud to say that this morning was my 127th consecutive day of meditating – by far the longest streak I’ve ever had. I’m also happy to report that I’m currently consistently doing 15 minutes a day, which feels like a huge achievement after years of barely being able to sit through 5. This practice is not easy for me, and it never feels particularly rewarding in the moment, but it’s helpful in about a million ways that don’t always seem obvious at first. I’m hopeful I’ll keep it up every day for 2018, even if some days I can only squeeze in a couple of minutes.

Intentions

Spend more time with my family: In 2017 we implemented a monthly famjam, which has been so wonderful. In 2018, I’m hoping to set up a weekly time to visit with my Grandma, who doesn’t live very far away from me. I’d also just like more puppy cuddles, time away from the city, walks with my mom, and dinners with my sisters.

Have a digital detox monthly: It’s so incredibly refreshing and rejuvenating for me to go off the grid, but it’s something I don’t do nearly often enough. Here’s to a monthly digital detox, for at minimum 24 hours!

Devote more time & love to cooking: For the past couple years, my at-home cooking has been relatively rushed, thrown-together, not-that-thought-out, and not-that-healthy. I want to change this! I am setting the intention to give more good vibes to my kitchen, try new things, and give myself permission to spend time making food for myself.

Make my home my happy place: It already kind of is, but there are lots of things I could do to make my home even cozier, even more me, and even more welcoming. For me this intention also means hosting people in my space more often, which always makes it feel more like a home to me.

A simple list that makes my heart happy. A lot of peace, a lot of quiet, a lot of fun, a lot of love: what more could I ask for? I know that along the way I’ll encounter amazing opportunities and probably check some things off my bucket list, but for now I’m going to let it flow instead of forcing it. Things happen when they’re meant to happen. My job is to keep showing up, keep learning, keep growing and playing and finding my center.

How about you? What do you want more of in 2018?

2018: Flow

January 6, 2018

This is my sixth time choosing a word to guide my year, and it has become one of my favourite practices for setting intentions and practicing mindfulness. Having a one-word theme really helps me make decisions, choose what to focus on, and find new ways to stretch myself in areas that might need more love or attention.

I first heard of the idea of choosing a yearly word from Elise Cripe and Ali Edwards, but it’s been fun to see how this practice has caught on more widely over the years – so much so that this year at work my boss encouraged the management team to choose a word and share it! I love hearing what my friends’ words are too, it’s such a nice way to connect with them, send them little reminders when I think of it, or help them make progress with their intentions. Choosing a word is such a fun thing to do, but it becomes more meaningful the more it’s practiced.

My word for 2018 is flow. Flowy flow flow. Like all my favourite words, this one has multiple meanings and ways I hope to apply it to my life over the next 12 months. Here are some of my favourites:

Go with the flow: Similar to last year’s “embrace the situation” intention, I want (need) to continue practicing intentional letting go of my desire to control situations or outcomes, especially when I have strong opinions on how things should play out. On the rare occasions that I am successful at this and remember to mentally release the vice grip on my desired outcome, my experience (and that of the people around me, no doubt!) is infinitely better. I feel calmer. I remember that there’s no “playbook” for how life is supposed to go. I figuratively and literally sit back in my chair a bit and remember that things will usually unfold the way they’re meant to unfold. I am not the tour guide. I am not responsible for everybody else having an optimal experience, no matter how much it feels that way sometimes.

Follow the flow: This year I also what to pay attention to what is flowing into my life easily and without much fuss, versus what seems like climbing a mountain to accomplish. As much as I can, I want to drop the things that aren’t flowing and turn towards what seems easy and light and fun in each moment. I love Jess Lively’s description of life being like a river that has a strong current. We can either let our boats be caught in the flow of the river, or we can turn around and try to paddle upstream. I often catch myself trying to force something to work when it’s clearly not working, instead of revisiting it later. Most of the time when I come back to a problem or a task, either it’s already resolved itself, I’m in a better frame of mind to handle it, or I’ve encountered new information I needed to make it work. This also means having less judgment of myself for not working “hard enough” some days or “too hard” on others. Following the flow means listening to my intuition’s messages about what comes next, without resistance. In 2018: less forcing it, more flow.

Choose flow activities: One of my book clubs recently read the book Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience, so I got a more in-depth look at the phenomenon of psychological flow. Flow is described as the experience of losing track of time while doing something challenging but also enriching, and the author believes it’s our most enjoyable human experience. A comparison is made between flow activities which bring true enjoyment, and non-flow activities, which bring pleasure (at a kind of neurological level), but don’t help you develop skills, strengthen your sense of self, or make you feel very connected to the world. As much as possible this year, I want to choose flow activities, which for me are reading, writing, knitting, having meaningful conversations, playing instruments, dancing, and taking photos.

Embody more flow: There are so many definitions of flow that I love, but am not sure yet how to apply to my life for 2018. One is “to hang loosely in an easy and graceful manner.”Another is a scientific term that means “to deform continuously under stress without cracking or melting.” Another is “to abound, to be available in copious quantities”. Another is “to rise and advance, as the tide.” Another is “to proceed or be produced smoothly, continuously, and effortlessly.” All of these make my heart so happy and I can think of ways they can apply to my attitude, my beliefs, my work process, my emotions, my soul. The intention here is to remember all of these beautiful definitions of flow and bring them into my world as much as I can.

Spend more time with things that flow: You guessed it, more time near – and in – the water in 2018! As I write this, Toronto is hitting record-breaking low temperatures, so the idea of being in the water is just about the last thing on my mind. But I’m such a water baby and I know how happy it makes me to go swimming, or even just watch the waves come in down by the lake. I love hot tubs and have been meaning to go to Scandinave, and how cool would it be to try a float tank this year? So fun.

I’m beyond excited for 2018. Last year was better than I ever could have imagined it to be, and I know that this year will have so much magic and abundance and light in store for me too. And flow: lots and lots of flow. Happy 2018!

PS. I would love love love to hear what your word for the year is in the comments below.

You can read more about my words from the last few years below:

2013: Reach | 2014: Abundance | 2015: Grace | 2016: Light | 2017: Embrace