One Little Word is a movement begun in 2006 by Ali Edwards. She chose a word in January to be her focus and guide, a word that expressed the hope she was nurturing for her year.
“In 2006 I began a tradition of choosing one word for myself each January – a word to focus on, meditate on, and reflect upon as I go about my daily life,” she writes in her blog One Little Word. “My words have included play, peace, vitality, nurture, story, light, up, open, thrive, give, and whole. These words have each become a part of my life in one way or another.” (https://aliedwards.com/projects/one-little-word)
The movement has grown, and it has become a popular practice. Go ahead, google “one little word” or "word of the year" and see what’s out there. You can read books, buy resources, find memes and art ideas, and take workshops on how to grow from this special word you’ve chosen.
Personally, I’ve sometimes, but not always, chosen a word for the year. One year it was YES! I wanted to say yes to the many opportunities to explore and grow that were coming my way. I created a little wall hanging printed with words and phrases and hung it on my bulletin board. It was a very good year. Perhaps the power of choosing a word for the year lies in just stating your intentions – stating it is the first step to acting on it.
Back in the busy season (aka December) I came across a quote by Meister Eckhart that has inspired me to choose a rather unusual word for this year. The quote is this:
Meister Eckhart was a 13th century theologian who rattled a lot of chains in his day. Living in a time when the church believed a vast chasm existed between the divine and the human, he made the startling declaration that God and human beings are already bonded together, already in intimate contact. The only obstacle to our experiencing this is our consciousness of the fact. It’s as though we are surrounded by a fog that obscures the presence of the divine. We are walking through life surrounded by Love, but we just can’t see it. We know there is something missing, but how do we connect?
I know that feeling. I read that quote in early December, and wrote the above lines to start a blog. I didn’t finish it because there were too many other things that were consuming me. I was running through life surrounded by Love, but was too busy, too busy to connect with it. December sucked me up. Fortunately it spit me out again halfway into January. Now it’s time to think some more about the quote.
So I’ve decided to make Subtraction my word for the year. I have no hankering to become an ascetic hermit, but something needs to change. And subtraction is not necessarily a negative thing: it can be liberating to shuck off constricting habits, patterns of thought, and emotional scars. There’s a greater freedom in travelling light.
This week, we are beginning a 6 week road trip down south to Arizona. Road trips mean, by necessity, that you leave behind a lot of the things you take for granted at home. I am subtracting the security of friendships, community, familiar landscapes. Subtracting everyday routines means there is more time for reflection and stock-taking. What in my life needs to be discarded? We are going to have new experiences, which will challenge our old ways of being and seeing. Which of our old ways of being and old ways of thinking might need to be subtracted so we can keep growing?
We go into this trip with our eyes and hearts and minds wide open. We’re wishing ourselves, and you, travelling mercies in 2018. Via con dios.
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