I had a good day today, a nice, simple, uneventful day. The kind of day where one is thankful for the whole day, instead of bits and pieces of it.
I went for a walk, it was bright, sunny, slightly breezy. The air was crisp and clean.
Then I spent two hours in my backyard, pruning the roses and trimming the fuchsias. I hadn’t been in my garden since last year, the rain had watered my plants and somehow I had no desire to do anything there.
The tulips and daffodils and freesias are all pushing through the soil, just a few more days and they will start budding.
I did some laundry.
I didn’t have to cook lunch; there were enough leftovers which ended up being a nice tasty meal.
I took a nap. The soporific effect of the warm winter sun and a full stomach makes for wonderful, deep, restive sleep.
I spent some time with my parents and sister, got caught up with the family news.
I caught the sunset today, which wasn’t the fiery red and orange and yellow picture-perfect one people wait for, but a sweet simple goodbye till we meet again
I knew what to cook for dinner-just simple peas and potatoes with some cheese.
So nothing remarkable happened but I ended up with a feel good glow.
And I had time to think about my word of the year-WOTY.
According to wikipedia, it is considered to be the most important word used in the public sphere. Different dictionaries come up with their own words e.g. Merriam Webster chose ‘pandemic’ for 2020 and ‘vaccine’ for 2021.
However, I am looking at my WOTY to provide me a focus for this year. I am rather late to the party because this has been all over the blogs for many, many years. Some prefer it to resolutions which seem so rigid. But a word gives a general direction to the path one wants to take.
I didn’t have one because I didn’t want to limit myself to one category. How could I choose between hope, faith, compassion, balance, learn, etc, etc. I am bad at choosing when there are more than two choices.
I have noticed over the years that I am interested in a lot of things. I want to do art, which can include painting, sketching, origami, writing, calligraphy. Then I want to crochet-afghans and slippers and beanies and shawls. I want to participate in 5Ks and half marathons. I want to be regular with yoga and meditation and go deeper into the practice. I want to travel, learn a language and immerse myself in a new culture.I want to have a lush, green garden with exotic flowers and vegetables. I want to watch everything on t.v and read all the latest fiction and non-fiction.
All this is doable. None of the above activities requires the sort of resources I don’t have.
But when it comes time to do something, I am unable to start. Unable to move. I can sit and read a book on the subject, I can read blogs, find out everything on how to do something, but I actually do nothing.
I write blog posts, but in my mind. I read up on crochet patterns and how to grow different flowers but don’t start the process. I have read everything about how to prepare for a half marathon but I haven’t increased my speed even a bit.
And I ruminate. Rumination is thinking about events again and again without coming to a closure. Feeling guilty, feeling frustrated or worrying endlessly about the future. No, I just do not want that to be my default mode.
So my basic problem is with moving. And that’s my WOTY.
Move, movement, moving, moving on, moving towards, moving away from, moving with, moving against.
I don’t want to be stuck anymore. Stuck with my old habits, or in my old routines. Stuck in the same old patterns of thinking.
So this year, I will try as much as possible to be more active and move. I will start by writing a blog post at least once a week. And it will enumerate ways in which I am focussing on my WOTY.
