how do i wish my new year to manifest?
what do i want my primary focus throughout 2013 to be?
how will i define my purpose?
what single word will be my theme?

last week, i promised to share my word of the year with you.

but, first, a review.

my word for 2011 was untethered.
the inspiration for my amplified philosophy:  untethered integration.

my word for 2012 was bold.
as i began reaching further out of my comfort zone in my quest for a bold free new life.

my word for 2013 wasn’t immediately obvious to me.

many ideas came to mind.
fearless?
present?
color?

but none felt just right.
they didn’t quite capture my essence.

i had to allow my word to simply come to me.
without force.
without too much thought.

it wasn’t until i viewed a photo that my son had taken.
of a rolling wave.

and i knew i had it.

WAVE.

that was my word.

it represented everything i was trying so desperately . . .
to feel.
to grasp.
to embody.
to actualize.

and then the actual thinking process began.

i turned to the dictionary.

as a noun, wave is defined as:

• a disturbance on the surface of a liquid body in the form of a moving ridge or swell
• any surging or progressing movement resembling a wave of the sea
• a swell, surge, or rush, as of feeling or of a certain condition
• a widespread feeling, opinion, tendency

as a verb:

• to move freely and gently back and forth or up and down
• to curve alternately in opposite directions
• to bend or sway up and down or to and fro
• to be moved, especially alternately in opposite directions

yes, yes, yes.
exactly.

i have chosen and recently committed to the gypsy’s way of life.
i have decided to give up my in-person wellness studio and my permanent home.
to see where my untethered adventures take me instead.
through my new online business venture,
and through my family’s experiences with wanderlust.

and how does that feel?
exciting.
exhilarating.
free.
fun.

but, at times, i also feel . . .
scared.
lonely.
displaced.
unsure.

the ups and downs of a nomadic lifestyle.

to bend or sway to and fro.
to be moved, especially in opposite directions.

i have created a disturbance on the surface of my life.
but it is in the form of surging and progressing movement.

i do not want a settled existence.
yet don’t we all crave some form of security and permanence?
how do i reconcile the wave i feel with each step of this new life?

nothing is constant.
moments are fleeting.

we cannot always be happy, organized, content, energized, motivated, carefree.

there will always be periods of sadness, chaos, upset, weariness, discouragement, anxiety.

just like a wave,
my life ebbs and flows.

but i’ve come to the conclusion that i want to hop on that wave and embrace it.
to roll with my life, to drive or impel it to flow onward.
even if i get swept up in the tide now and then.
(is it any wonder that “to tide over” means to surmount a difficulty or obstacle, to survive?)

bending, breaking, and hopefully cresting – reaching my personal summit.

just as the wave twists, so will the good and bad in my day-to-day journey intertwine and alter in shape.

WAVE.

a personal uprising.
a private rebellion against stagnation.
an intimate and expansive force of movement.

wikipedia states that “an attempt to define the necessary and sufficient characteristics that qualify a phenomenon to be called a wave results in a fuzzy border line.”

messy.
like life.

i deeply feel this word that i’ve adopted for the year.

i am ready for the many curves, bends, and swells that 2013 may bring.
i am curious to see where my wave will take me.
i am eager to take on its surprise unfolding.

i plan to catch the wave, however tumultuous, of my personal odyssey.
with open eyes and mindful awareness.
and i am determined to surf the crest for ever-expanding lengths of time.

“For last year’s words belong to last year’s language and next year’s words await another voice. And to make an end is to make a beginning.”

-T.S. Eliot

my new beginning.

2013.

WAVE.

please share your word of the year with me.
( i would love to hear your tale of the process involved as well.)

and, if you haven’t already, please consider joining me each week via my studio notes by subscribing to my blog.