Tuesday, January 3, 2017

One Little Word 2017: Anyway

Tuesdays at Two Writing Teachers!
Wow.
2016.
What an absolute doozy of a year!

Personally, professionally, as a citizen of the U.S. and a person in the world... just wow.

STRONG certainly turned out to be a darn good word for 2016, and it did its job well, pushing me to be better while also taking care of myself better.

And I want to keep that up. Keep pushing myself, like I always have, but in a way that's good for me, which is the newer part.

Unfortunately, as 2016 showed us all, the world can pack some pretty big punches, no matter how hard you work to make your very best impact on your very small corner of it.

So this fall, when I ran across a version of the "Paradoxical Commandments" on social media, widely attributed to Mother Teresa but apparently actually written by Kent Keith and used by Mother Teresa, I knew what my word for 2017 would be:
ANYWAY

As I thought more about my word, I remembered loving a song called "Anyway", and when I went to look it up, I learned that Keith's poem was actually one of Martina McBride's inspirations for the lyrics, so my OLW inspirations are tied together perfectly!

At first, I was going to scatter words from each line of the poem around my word in this year's image, but I didn't want it to be too cluttered, and I wanted to add "strong", so I decided to make it more my own:
created on my iPad with Drawing Desk and FontCandy+
I chose sunrise colors this year, for hope and rebirth.
Like the past several years, this will be my computer wallpaper at school.
So in 2017, I will do my very best to brighten every piece of the world I can reach, even especially in the midst of so much darkness.

I will be kind, even especially when others are not.
I will be joyful, even especially when it's difficult to find joy.
I will be strong, even especially when I'm worn out.
I will be brave, even especially when I'm scared.
I will give my best, even especially when it seems to not be enough.
I will forgive those who act hurtfully, even especially when they act unwilling to work for healing.
I will love. Everyone. Even especially when it hurts. Even especially when they seem hard to love.

I love this word because it allows me to keep living my past words... even especially 
when it's hard. I will keep  connecting, keep  delighting, keep being  a spark, keep  loving, and keep being  strong...
anyway.


6 comments:

  1. Sometimes I think it is hard to leave our words. When words serve us well, we want to hang onto them. Perhaps there is something to keeping a word for more than a year. Your word strong from last year, may well be needed again. Interesting the way you've taken the word anyway and used it to weave through so many possibilities not losing your past words.

    I hope anyway serves you well in 2017.

    Cathy

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  2. That's a unique word. I'm so happy it found you and that, like Cathy said, you're able to use it to keep you connected to your past words.
    Good Luck with this word in 2017!

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  3. love it! genius move on choosing your word!

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  4. Anyway. So much carried by that word. And yes, it's cool how it links other words from other years together. I wish you the best.

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  5. You always make me smile, Jennifer, and I'm not surprised that you would take such a word and make it your own, anyway! I love it. 2016 was a year of challenges, but then, so much wonder too. We need to keep that spirit, and I know you will be strong. Happy New Year!

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  6. Such a unique and interesting OLW. I love it! Wishing you a wonderful 2017!

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