So you agonized over your personal Word of the Year (WOTY) and finally arrived at the perfect mantra, focus, challenge, etc… but now what? I suggest you find a way to VISUALIZE your Word in a way that tangibly brings it (or it’s meaning) to mind every day.
Here are 7 of my favorite ideas:
1. Accessorize with It
In my last post, we explored ways to perceive our WOTY. For me, my Word “Advocate” acts as a scale to weigh my thoughts, options, and circumstances. Having my word printed on this gorgeous gold bar necklace has forced me to acknowledge it constantly. It is so pretty, its purpose is hard to ignore.
Every time I bend over (which is a lot with little kids running around!) this necklace falls down over my chin. At first it was annoying during every downward dog in yoga class; however, soon I began spending these moments praying for my co-gym mates or my little kiddos. And sometimes the bright gold catches the light perfectly in my bathroom mirror, reminding me to attend to my appearance in a way to advocate for the gospel (think: Image Bearer confident in Christ).
I love wearing my Word so much, I want to share a similar necklace with one of you! Enter here then scroll to the bottom of this post for more details on my Word of the Year Necklace Giveaway (Giveaway Now Closed 1/17/18).
2. Paint a Canvas
Full disclosure: I have broken an unspoken rule of the personal WOTY: I have more than one word!
My sisters and I set up a canvas-painting party with our mom after Christmas. I was bound and determined to somehow paint a representation of “Advocate.” As paint splashed from my brush, unexpected vulnerable fears leaked from my soul. What came out instead of “advocate” was a raw but imperative second word for the coming year: F L O W.
F L O W helps me be bendy, fluid, and moldable. While pushing into the intentionality of gospel advocacy is a powerful display of obedience to God, so is an awareness of the Holy Spirit’s guidance and ease-of-burden in the process. My F L O W canvas reminds me of all these things from its perch above my piano, in the one quiet room of the house where I study God’s Word and practice yoga.
3. Make It Your Jam
In the year of “Live Alive,” I compiled a playlist on Spotify that represented our goal to live boldly, fully, and gratefully throughout 2017. Sounding off with Rend Collective’s Live Alive, my Happy Island playlist is still a family favorite. Inviting our kids to add their “live alive” songs added to the joy and ownership for everyone in our family. You will never hear a more eclectic mix of Bob Marley, Chris Tomlin, Disney soundtracks, and James Brown (I Feel Good, I knew that I would, now!). Check it out here.
4. Label Your Year Book
One of my FAVORITE things I have ever done for our family was build an annual photo album on Shutterfly. This brings me to my second confession: I do not pick my word of the year in January. We usually pick it in the summertime before the school year, when we are tangibly faced with seasonal life changes.
Our family year books represent an entire school year, beginning with the summertime beforehand. I organize the photos throughout the year and order the book on Cyber Monday. Our kids look forward to opening their Christmas Eve box and seeing the former year in photos. This year, I added our “Live Alive” WOTY to the front of the book, along with photographed moments in which we were intentional to do some abundant living.
5. Doodle It on Repeat
Art journaling is a somewhat more official and sophistic form of doodling important things, either in an actual journal, or pretty much anywhere you have space to create. One year, my word of the year was Flourish. I represented this word with leafy doodles and flowering patterns of ink in my journals (I end up with several year). In fact, these reminders to Flourish ended up everywhere: random sticky notes, to-do lists, my daily journal, sermon notes, white boards, grocery lists and even a hand-painted canvas. This growing collage of encouragement throughout my home kept me focused throughout the year.
6. Frame Your Word
For 2 years now, my husband and I have attended a small prayer banquet for our local crisis pregnancy center ministry. At the end of the banquet, the staff gives each attendee a blank sealed envelope with a specific Word inside. These words have been powerful for me. Last year, my Word was World Changer. The accompanying verses gave me courage to pursue some writing and speaking opportunities I was wavering on. Invigorated, I immediately framed both Shane’s word and mine and hung them next to our bathroom mirror.
This year, my word was Enjoy. At first, I balked at this card telling me to enjoy the year ahead. Excuse me, I think this card was for someone else; I am Becky Rosty! Enjoying life is not something I need reminded of. So I avoided putting my new word in the frame for months! This week as I contemplated this blog post, I realized I really do need the reminder to enjoy.
2018 is the now-or-never year to finish up some precious life projects. Pressing in to finish strong is not always fun, or glamorous. If I am going to be the aforementioned world-changer, I am going to need to enjoy things that bore me, things that scare me. Or I will probably just not do them. And some things are too important to let go.
Visit our master bath sometime and find our new encouraging words displayed prominently for my daily humbling. (And yes, that now adds up to 3 motivationally challenging Words of the Year, who cares.)
7. Display a Representative Object
In 2016, my WOTY Flourish also prompted me to give a potted plant center stage in my home. The poor thing needed pruning this year, which is incredibly profound when you think of how that applies to my WOTY. Maybe, in order to keep flourishing in 2018, I need a little pruning too?
Perhaps you have a similar Word this year? Find room in your budget to buy a bouquet of flowers each month to remind you to Bloom. Trying to stay present? Grab an inspiring daily desk calendar to keep your focus on the now. Those with Simplify in mind might display a crisp white bowl on their table; make it the family goal to keep the bowl empty, both literally and figuratively.