Choosing your WORD for the year

There is magic in this...

***

Taking the inspired idea from my dear friend, I started the year with a January forecast Tarot spread - the classic Celtic Cross. I had forgotten how much clarity and insight I gain from Spirit practices, practices in communion with the Divine and divination tools such as the Tarot. 

We all have access to our own set of tools. For some it is a walk, for others it is journalling; for some it is doing laps at the pool or showing up to the yoga mat. I do love to see the algorithm portal of other hearts and what their go-to’s are and what they commit to. I sometimes have felt like a fraud for knowing all of my body-based creative reflective practices but not prioritising them, not being disciplined enough with them. And if I’m honest and compassionate with myself, that was okay for the season that has been. Last year was a unravelling for me on many levels. I really do resonate with the year of the Snake and the great shedding of stories, identity, wounds, connections - all that was not meant to come forward with me. All that needed to be revealed and faced. And there remains some threads that will continue to unravel, but my mindset and perspective now is focused, is clear. I feel I can carry myself in a higher vibration of truth. 

In many ways I have asked for this life. I have sought great depth in my connection to Self, connection with others. I’ve demanded raw brutal honesty from myself. I’ve willed experiences that have created circumstances where I could either get real or numb and distract myself instead. It’s a harsh reality to realise you are the creator of your own reality. That the framework in which you view things controls everything. And as much as it has pained me, the medicine is in the facing it, not shying away from but actually forging into it, in the stripping everything back bit by bit and feeling it all along the way. 

Though I can be guilty of being in the all-to-seriousness of the self-aware, personal development, keep growing way as well, so naturally The Fool card appeared to shine a light on the need to play, tend to my inner child, and be a bit more spontaneous. 

My rituals tend to adapt and flow with my seasons of need but what I have felt particularly comforting over the past few years is to have a word of the year. Last year my word was TRUST and boy oh boy was it a lesson after continuous lesson in trust - trusting Self, trusting it would be okay, trusting my NO, trusting the connection, trusting that things were working FOR me - not against me, trusting the lessons of love available here. 

The closing of my journal musings on my 2025 word, reads:

“So maybe trust is what formed when I told myself I’d get through it, whatever comes, whatever unfolds, whatever follows. To trust: the mystery, the unseen, the impulses, the tugging, the grief, the despair. To trust that feeling it all would way-show the next step. To trust in the power of LOVE, to let love lead. To trust it was working out - and that that working out is not something my mind could work out for me.” 

I realised, through conversations with various close friends this week, that my relationship with trust in a faith sense, is that I do believe that I am supported, that I have guides and there is a bigger powers at play. Though when I find myself in chaotic seasons of life, I revert back to old habits and patterns and cope by going inwards, locking myself up, and dealing with it all solo. White-knuckling my way through until I absolutely can’t anyway, until I have no more capacity, am depleted and then and only then have I given it over in a desperate “I’ve tried everything, I need you now” way. I know there is a history there of hyper independence and grief of feeling like I’ve had to do it all alone before, but the thing is is I know I’m not alone. In fact I am probably more resourced in terms of my own tools, my community, the love that surrounds me and refuels me. And yet, old patterns remain. What I realised was that I don’t call upon my Spirit faith until that’s the last thing. Why is that? Do I feel like I have to prove something to myself? Do I truly feel like I have to do it on my own? 

And in all the contemplating, the resource-creating, the podcast interviews I did last year, I have been in deep reflection on the relationship between Intuition & a Higher Power/Spirit/Faith (“The God of my understanding” - as Liz Gilbert says). 

I have come to trust my Intuition - but that is also because I have honed that relationship. But how seperate is my Intuition & Spirit to me? Both are looking out for me, both are guiding me, both are providing me with insights and clarity, and both are allies to me navigating life. 

Anyway, I digress.

I shared with a friend that my practice I commit to each year at the start of a new year is deciding on a word for the year. “But I want multiple words” my friend said. “But that dilutes the process.” Was my immediate response. And it’s true. I have come to trust the power of intention and the power of decision - when we intent our actions, our mindset; when we make a decision and a full body shift to lock ourselves into that decision - things shift and I do believe that  our world shifts to make room for that decision and our actions thereafter. 

When I have had one key word, that is the umbrella under which everything falls. That is the foundational piece that everything rises from. That is the key ingredient in the cauldron which flavours everything else you stir in. You get the point right? It’s the through line, the overarching theme, the steerer. 

As I closed off my journalling practice for 2025 and sat with what my 2026 word will be, the word that came was ABUNDANCE. And that feels GOOD. ABUNDANT is how I want to feel. Abundant in Joy, in Ritual, in Love, in Connection, in Capacity, in Health, Wealth & Opportunities. Not only is my word offering direction and focus, but it a good tracker in which to measure my energy and time. 

I want to feel abundant in my connections, and one thing I have made the decision to prioritise and focus this year is my connection with Spirit. I want to co-create life with Spirit, in communion with Spirit. This feels so important, particularly for these times and the Year of the Horse moving towards the life of our creation. 

A CREATIVE PRACTICE FOR YOU, DEAR READER ~~~

So, dear reader, if you have gotten this far - I invite you to sit and contemplate if there is a word, a single word that stands out to you that feels sparkly and as you say it/feel it/express it - is it bringing you the exact feeling you want and need for this season of your life? 

I invite you to DANCE your word - see how it wants to be embodied, how it wishes to be expressed? What rhythm does it have, what sounds does it want to make. What movement comes, is there a particular gesture that you repeat - can this become your movement mantra? 

I invite you to CREATE with your word - draw it, sketch it, paint it, sew it, collage it. 

I invite you to JOURNAL on your word - describe a scene of yourself feeling that, doing that, embracing that - what are you doing, where are you, how do you feel, note all the juicy glorious details. 

This is the power of our creative intuitive selves! Get playful with it!

I even got playful with canva and created this ABUNDANCE tile for myself ;) 

Enjoy beauties!

~~~

And if you’re looking for some extra juicy resources and tools for rituals, self-care practices & creative self-discovery - my book, online course and new Body Wisdom Oracle cards are all on special and available at discounted prices via my Crowdfunding Campaign which is still live until the end of this month! And if you don’t have funds - that’s ok because you won’t be charged till February anyway!

Sign up for your rewards while you get the value of these packages!