Mine is MOVE!!!, in big, bold, all caps with three exclamation marks.
This powerful word has been front (and back) of mind all throughout 2024, since it was the theme for my 2025 Wildlife Calendar. All year, I painted dynamic artworks featuring incredible creatures in poetic motion! Creatures dramatically leaping, chasing after something (sometimes, their lunch!); suspended in mid-air, fighting for what’s most important (sometimes, their lives!); frolicking with reckless abandon…
In 2024, my word - or phrase - of the year, was “Gear Down”. It was beautifully grounding! This year, I need something that is going to light a fire in me and drive me purposefully forward, on and up (isn’t it beautiful that we are so incredibly complex, needing such vastly different motivations in the many passing chapters of our journey?!). This year, I need liberal movement!
In my business, I want to feel like I really took methodical steps to expand, reach goals, improve, learn, grow… Personally, I want to implement simple, manageable and enjoyable habits that literally and physically make me move. If the animals that I painted last year were not inspiration enough to MOVE!!!, then surely the increase of aches and pains in my ageing body are! The older we get, the less we move our bodies (and our minds, too, for that matter!). We grow up playing and running and jumping. We enjoyed it! Somewhere along the line, to our own detriment, we stop. I’d like to rekindle the joyful habit of movement!
Whether it’s personally or professionally, before I make any decisions or take any kind of action, I will ask myself, “Is this helping me to MOVE!!!?”. This does not mean that I will spend the year running around like a headless chicken (although I’m sure there will be a fair amount of that, too). Those three exclamation marks will remind me to move with care, discretion and intentionality. Regular, proactive rest - stillness - is absolutely necessary to inspire movement of thought and harness sustainable energy.
So, there you have it! I’m really excited about my Word of the Year. I feel inspired and motivated, it feels realistic and attainable. Better than any New Year’s Resolution!
Wishing you healing, healthy, happy movement in 2025!
Now, I’m going for a walk! ;)
