I started my “Word of the year” feature after reading this post by Ali Edwards in 2007. The Word is a compass to guide my actions to get me where I want to go next. This is my story from 2007 to 2014 so you know what worked and what didn´t. You can find 5 tips on how to choose your own word here in this post.
2007: NOW
Because it was time to start doing instead of only planning. It took me in the right direction.
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| That´s my hubbie and myself in 2007 as seen by our boy
who was 11 years old at that time
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My first choice was ABUNDANCE, just because everybody was choosing something similar and I wanted my share. You may guess what happened with this “everybody else is doing it” thing. It didn´t quite work out because it was not really MY word. I gained some perspective though. A “there is enough ” feeling that allowed me to give to others which led me to my true word: community.
| Some of my cousins and their kids in 2008 |
2009: AWARENESS
By March I had to ditch it as it was driving me crazy, too much awareness was overwhelming. Be careful with what you wish for, you may get it.
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| Took my journal to the jungle in July 2009 |
My best experience so far. I found my word at the enchanted girl lake. I actually “heard” the word whispered by the rocks. I paid so much attention to what I was told and the opportunities offered that nowadays we call 2010 The Year of Change.
It had a great beginning, making myself heard and taking painting lessons to express in other ways than with words. About September it diluted and the mad dash to the end of the year drowned everything. Lesson learnt: revisit your word on a regular basis, keep it present.
Deeper than the ocean, higher than the sky. Keeping it in mind I expanded my tribe, joining new projects like Sunday Snippets, My month in Numbers and Blogtoberfest , launching my blog in Spanish (which I closed later), connecting with new people on Facebook (come and play with me!) while going deeper with Jamie for Wishcasting Wednesdays and Full Moon Boards.
2013: ENERGY
All the fast forward movement in 2012 left me on the verge of burn out. I wanted to be more careful with my energy cycles. My energy was going to be my focus this year, starting by a “renewal” stage in January.
2013 was high energy but also high strung with my headless chicken crash and burn style taken to the limit. It became a “reactive” year with long To Do lists. Click here to have a look at all I did in 2013.
2014: PROSPER
It all started with Jamie Ridler´s workshop Prosper.
Mmmmmmmm. Nice. Prosper. Delicious word, isn´t it? A positive “be better off” thing that leads to a “feel better” situation. I wanted that. Still I wasn´t that sure.
The investigation part began, starting by the definition:
1.- To be fortunate or successful, especially in terms of one’s finances; thrive.
2.- to thrive, succeed, etc., or cause to thrive, succeed, etc. in a healthy way
So I can use it for me AND others? This word was getting better and better.
It is a verb, an action word. Looking for synonyms I found: succeed (I was looking forward to this), advance (good compass), progress (ditto), thrive (sounded awesome), make it, flower, get on, do well, flourish, bloom (another good compass: does this make me bloom?), make good (easy to see and measure), be fortunate, grow rich.
Being the Scy-Fi fan that I am “Prosper” became “Live long and prosper”, which coming from Mr. Spock, half over analytical Vulcan and half emotional human ( any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, well … why deny it 
) seemed so fit.
What did “prosper” mean to me? My own planner gave me the answer. 
During 2014 I hosted my first local on line workshop, created my own dot com websites and posted for myself and other blogs, got chosen for the International Bloggers Association board, wrote a series of 30 interviews with international artists, participated/moderated groups and more.
What´s next? Choosing a Word for 2015!
Have you chosen a Word of the Year for 2015? Have you set an intention?
Come by next week to know what I´ve chosen this year!
40 thoughts on “Words of the year, the whole story”
This was a great post – it was so interesting to see your journey on word choosing.
It will be interesting to see what word you have picked for 2015 and then see how you progress with it through the year.
Wishing you all the best.
Toni xx