An Idea for the New Year

I’ve posted a lot about the new year recently. This is in part because it is the new year and now is the time to post. It is also in part because I am really excited for this year. This is the first calendar year in roughly 18 years where I don’t have school, and I feel that I have more time to actively pursue the things I’m interested in. This is exciting for me, to feel like I have time. I haven’t felt that way in a long time.

I’ve also posted a lot lately about how people start the new year. Some people make resolutions. Some people don’t. Some people have rituals. Some people don’t. Some of these I’ve shared with you. Some of them I haven’t. Here’s what I want to share with you today.

I read a blog post. I know. I probably read a lot of blog posts. The truth though is that I don’t read as many blog posts as you might think. There are a couple of blogs that really make me happy and then there’s all the random stuff I read while I’m on Pinterest. I’m getting distracted though.

Anyways, to get back on track, I read a blog post by Maxie McCoy. You can read it here. Maxie wrote a great post on three ways to get ready for the new year, and I really loved it. Given my sunny outlook on the new year, I adopted one of these ideas. Maxie wrote about choosing a word to define your year. This was something that I wanted to do as soon as I read it, but I thought it would be difficult because it was something I had never done before. How does one narrow it down to basically one word to define what they want their entire year to be like?

Fun fact: It wasn’t that hard at all. It didn’t take me long at all to realize that I wanted my word of 2016 to be open. I want to be open this year. I want to be open to adventure. I want to be open to change. I want to be open to new ideas and new experiences. I want to be open to everything this year holds. I don’t really know what all that is yet; this year is only 4 days old. But I know that I want to be open to it and see how the year unfolds.

What are your thoughts on having a word to define your year? Or is there another idea of Maxie’s that you really like? Or do you have your own traditions that you start the new year with? Let me know!

BrittanyM

Collecting Words

I don’t think I need to share at this point that I write a lot. Writing is what I’ve chosen to focus my life around, and I’m really good with that decision. That isn’t quite what I want to write about tonight. I wanted to talk about something a little more specific instead. I wanted to talk about collecting words.

It isn’t the same thing as writing. Writing is about sharing words and ideas. It’s about collecting thoughts and organizing them and weaving something that the world is going to want to read. And writing is great. But many times before I write I find myself collecting words. Making lists of different words and phrases that might not mean anything at the time but will later. These are the words and phrases that I’m going to build stories around. These are the words and phrases that inspire stories which in turn leads to a whole new collection of words and phrases.

I don’t think that everyone collects words the way that I do, but I do collect words. I love words. Sometimes the words are far more special than anything that I’m writing because the words mean new opportunities and unwritten stories. So I continue now, and probably always, to collect the words.

BrittanyM