So maybe you've heard of inspiration words that people set for the year but yesterday I ran across a newly announced word of the year by dictionary.com done in retrospect.
They looked over 2020 and decided that the word of the year, the word that described 2020 and encompassed everything that had happened was PANDEMIC.
I get it, I see where they're coming from, the pandemic affected so much of our lives that it does seem like an obvious choice. But I feel like that's a surface level choice. The pandemic has and is happening but it's not the word that defines me. Not in this year and it won't be in the next. So many things happened that were far more defining. Perhaps they happened because of the pandemic, I'm not denying that it affected us, but if a word is going to define me I will choose one that defines me for the better.
So I've been thinking about the things I've seen and the words I would choose to be my retrospect 2020 word of the year and there are a lot of options. Hope was the first to come to mind when I thought of how the people of the world have tried to lift each other through the challenges. Resilience was another that struck a chord when I thought of the way we've all had to choose to push forward (for that matter choice would have been a good one.). Compassion is seen in almost every neighborhood.
These are all good defining words but there's also been a lot of challenges this year and while I want to recognize the good, you can't turn a blind eye to the other side of the years happenings.
So, while it's not as exciting or promising a word as some of those I've mentioned, my 2020 word of the year is Change.
So much of our lives have changed but through the actions of so many amazing and hard working people that change has not been only bad.
We've changed schools which has changed the way we help our children (not gonna lie this one was hard to see as positive but it's good that I'm more aware of my kids and what they're doing.).
We've changed how we shop which has changed my budget (Mmhmm. I'm talking less eating out and more cooking at home. There are perks.)
We've changed the way we interact which has changed our relationships. (Some have dissolved and some have gotten stronger. It's like we purged our social lives waiting to see the family and friends that really cared to be there when things got rough.)
We've changed the way we work and the way we care for our families and that's the big one for me. 2020 hasn't been great but because of the hard things greatness is happening.
Sheesh this happens every time.
Anytime I let myself just talk I write a book. No not a literal book, but that's not far from the truth. This was just a long newsletter so shoot me a quick reply and enjoy the books below!
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