a word you can live inside

Jan 1

Dear Reader,

New Year’s Day has a strange quality to it. The calendar flips and even if nothing in your life has changed overnight, the day still carries a sense of possibility. There’s often a desire for us to start clean, to choose well, to step into the year with a little more intention than you did before.

One way to meet this moment, without trying to force it, is to choose one word you want to live inside this year and treat it like a lens you keep returning to. Something that helps you notice what matters when life gets chaotic. It does not have to be impressive, or public, or perfectly defined. The best word usually feels steady when you say it. It gives you a little more room to breathe. It can point you toward the person you want to be in conversations, in your work, in your home, and in your own head.

Once you have the word, you can keep the practice small on purpose. You do not have to map out the whole year. You can ask a simpler question in ordinary moments. What might this word look like today, in its smallest form, in a day that is imperfect and a little messy. When the action stays small, it becomes easier to practice without turning it into a performance.

If you are feeling the urge to reinvent yourself right now, you are not alone. That urge makes sense. New Year’s has a way of shining a spotlight on all the places we want to grow and all the places we feel behind. A word can help with that, simply because it gives you something to come back to when you drift, without needing to make it dramatic or harsh.

Find your word today. Then stop there. Let that be enough for January 1.

Happy New Year!