One Little Word® 2022 | Pause
Since 2006 I've been choosing a single word to walk with over the course the 12 months from January through December. I call it One Little Word®. It's a personal growth/reflection project that uses memory keeping as the vehicle to help us live with intention.
My past words have included:
- Play
- Peace
- Vitality
- Nurture
- Story
- Light
- Up
- Open
- Thrive
- Give
- Whole
- Connect
- Space
- Habit
- Less
- Heart
For 2022 I'm going to focus on the word pause.
I’m currently in the process of welcoming “pause” into my life. It’s a word that’s speaking to me and I’m actively reminding myself that I don’t have to know why and I don’t have to have any answers right now besides saying yes to the adventure. Most of us alive right now have experienced some degree of pause over the last few years - for me this is more about pausing before reacting, pausing before making decisions, pausing to take it all in, pausing to celebrate, pausing to make sure I'm living the way I want to be living. I'm looking forward to seeing what I learn from this word in 2022.
You're invited to join me in choosing word and working to make it visible in your own life in 2022.
SHARE YOUR WORD IN THE COMMENTS
I’d love to read what word you’ve chosen or are considering for 2022. In the comments feel free to simply leave your word as your comment or write a bit about why you are choosing this word. Next week I’ll combine all the words into a single post – it's become tradition and super inspiring to see all the words in one place.
If you’re new to the concept of One Little Word®, you can read some of my previous posts here: 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018.
JOIN US IN MAKING OUR WORDS VISIBLE
Since 2011 I've been offering a One Little Word® online workshop that's goal is to help you stay connected to your word throughout the year. It's not complicated and it doesn't take a lot of time and we have a wonderful community of people who come together to share the journey. Each month you receive an email reminder to head back to the classroom for some sort of creative prompt/writing reflection from myself or the OLW Team (in 2021 this became a Team effort). As with most years, the majority of the prompts will be similar to past years as I find that I enjoy the process of doing the same prompts with different words each year - it's never the same. New videos are recorded each year that include our personal reflections on the process with our new words.
You can read all the details about this workshop and sign up here. You can watch a video walkthrough of some of my past album projects here to get an idea of past prompts. Registration is $5 off until December 31, 2021.
SHOP THE COLLECTION
I've also created a selection of products to help you document your journey with your word - check those out here.
Shop This Post
My word was harder than usual to choose this year, there were 6 that I really wanted, then narrowed it down between the words trust and unwind. I have decided to go with "trust."
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'Cultivate'
It's a word I've been playing with for the past few years but it's been reoccuring as I never really feel done with what I hoped to accomplish with it. Bit I listened to your podcast the other day and have spent the week pondering what it looks like to approach a word out of love rather than obligation and it's completely changed how I look at this word and has made me reframe a lot of my goals for 2022. So thank you; I think I need a little less 'what should you strive towards because you think you should?' and a few more avenues to be kind to myself. ❤️
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Calm
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I keep going back and forth between Grace, Grateful and Listen. I've been really hard on myself lately and am stuck on a mental loop of all the things I feel I should have done differently. The actual word "Grace" keeps showing up in the strangest places so I'm really leaning towards that but I'm giving myself one more week to decide.
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Strength
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My word for 2022 is JOY, it found me, it threw itself on me. Just kept coming up, I can't question why. I'm supposed to learn something I'm sure. Companion words Harmony + Action. Again just keep getting something from them as well. Looking forward to the why, how, + lessons I'm to take from them this year!
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Explore
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My word for 2022 is Balance
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My word is move, as in move out of the town I’ve lived in all of my 54 years, move my body, move/act with intention on the things I want to be doing, but haven’t quite done - healthy eating, sustainable living, creativity… I do feel this word is a bit harsh so I will start right off with gentle as an important companion word.
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Home
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my word this year is LEARN
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thrive
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Delight
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Originally back-to-basics is what kept coming to the surface, but is that really one word...so I Googled alternatives and got simple, simplicity, simplify...so my word will simply be SIMPLE, with my words from the last two years of focus and less, still out there lingering as support words. I am nearing retirement and feel the effects of a rush, rush, over distracting world taking a hold in my life. Instead, I want my life to be simple, "like in the old days" before social media and a world of distractions began to dominate.
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I'm debating between CALM and PAUSE- Pause being me first choice but I haven't finalized my word yet
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Redefine. This will be a year of challenges, new growth with fresh starts and readjustments. Things I have held onto I am letting go and allowing myself to look through new lenses. Why not? The old was good, but change is great!
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I'm choosing HABIT. I want to focus on living with intention. Daily movement, reading more, writing letters, sleeping better.
Me too.
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CARE. Thank you, Ali and all the instructors, for providing this service that is so welcoming to everyone!
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journey ... still figuring our what life looks like now that our kids are adults and the new paths that we will follow. I'm looking forward to discovering this life journey, but also my creative journey and my faith journey.
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I’m still deciding, which is unusual for me. This will be word #6 and the first that hasn’t just chosen me. My short list of four is: magical/magic, curious, open, or autistic.
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My word is Listen this year. I need to really listen to people and to hear what they are saying
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Play
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My word this year is Explore. It came to me a couple of weeks ago and just felt right.
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COMMIT is my OLW for 2022. Last year I chose the word health, but after a few months into the new year life became too busy and I chose to set aside both my OLW and my new health adventure. (Last year I envisioned eating better and moving more as I have sit down job.) The past couple of weeks the word commit keeps showing up, so I'm going with it.
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EASY … like the classic Eagles song - “I got a peaceful, easy feeling, and I know you won’t let me down, cuz I’m already standing, on the ground.” The last two years have been hard. In 2021 my word was brave and it helped get me through battling my husband’s cancer, the pandemic, a difficult work situation, and more. This year I get to retire and my husband successfully completed treatment. I’m ready for some easy.
Suzfllip - I love this so much. I have always liked that quote from that song. Glad to hear that your husband's treatment was successful! Great news! And enjoy retirement!
I am still trying to figure out my word but peace is one of the options so it works with that too.
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