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| Photo courtesy Andrew Martin via Pixabay |
As I mentioned briefly here, the word of the year that
presented itself to me for 2019 is “rise.” And it did present itself—I was
minding my own business, going about my normal, everyday life when it popped
into my head. And wouldn’t leave.
Some years I’ve had to do exercises or put in time pondering
possibilities, but not this year.
Rise scares me a little, as passion did. With its
connotation of picking myself up after a fall, rise initially felt like a word
that you turn to during hard times. Please, 2019, I beg of you do not to be as
emotionally challenging as the end of 2018!
But as I was noodling around with the word, a more gentle,
cheerful take appeared: the concept of floating, of lightness, of flying like a
balloon. Rise has an uplifting feel to
it, one of upward movement. The sun rises, cream rises to the top, bread and
other baked goods rise (becoming tasty and delicious). One “rises to the
occasion.”
Rising is gentler than climbing.
To rise, I’ll need to let go of heavy things dragging or
holding me down, release attitudes, beliefs, worries, and negativity.
I like it. I have a tendency to be internally dark, heavy,
serious, and intense. As light offered me a chance to explore and focus on more
happy aspects of living. perhaps rise will offer some of the same benefits.
I recently came upon this passage in Jon Cohen’s book, Harry's Trees:
“Olive was particularly inspired by dawns like this when she could not see the sun. It gave her strength and comfort to know that it was out there, rising, doing its daily job, unthwarted by clouds, rain or snow. That’s the way she liked to think of herself. Against the impediments and disappointments of life, she was a riser.”
I think I’m a riser, too.
I like a word of the year with some ambiguity to it. It makes for interesting encounters with myself throughout the year. What about you? Do you have a word of the year? If you feel comfortable, please share it and what it means to you in the comments section!
