Last summer, I was hoping to participate regularly in the Slice of Life challenge at Two Writing Teachers. Then life got in the way. I keep hoping to post regularly. At this point, I seem to post when I have something that feels important. If you want to participate, you can link up at their Slice of Life Story Post on Tuesdays or you can just head on over there to check out other people's stories. For more information on what a Slice of Life post is about, you can go here.
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For over a year now, I have noticed friends posting One Little Word posts. I decided to explore more about this and purchased the book, One Word That Will Change Your Life, Expanded Edition by Jon Gordon, Dan Britton, and Jimmy Page. I decided to give it a whirl and see what word would be my word.
The perfectionist in me struggles with something like this. I know I need to unplug and focus and yet my mind seems to fill up. I panic and generate several dozen words. I am blown away when I share the book with a close friend and her kids come up with really powerful choices for their own words in no time at all. And all through it, I keep thinking that it will be July before I find a word.
I am pretty certain that it shouldn't be this hard.
Tonight, I gathered in the living room with two of my good friends. We decided that we would embark on this journey together and be a support to one another. I listened and commented on what each of these women had to share. We asked questions, and offered encouragement. As we talked, I pulled out my journal and the list of words that I have been fretting over. I admitted that I had no idea where to start or what I needed. My friends started asking questions. Slowly, clarity came. Where at first, I could see only a bunch of words, some patterns arose.
Along with a pattern came a heartfelt concern. A few months ago, I wondered if I was suddenly plucked out of the current time continuum would anyone notice? Did my life have any significance or did it really matter? As I shared my concerns with my girlfriends, I became pretty emotional. Maybe I did have a word and just didn't know it. Was purpose my word? This still didn't seem quite right. One of my friends said that it seemed like perspective was an issue. Then I began to cross out words that seemed less connected and started to see what was left. A cluster of words began to form. I started to look up the definition of the words matter, significance, and meaningful. Not so surprising all of them were connected. This felt right. It also meant that no matter which of those words I selected they were somehow connected to one another.
Though I will be sitting with these words for a bit, I suspect that my one little word is the word - meaningful. Now to see what happens when I let this word sink in and grow and transform.
