Plus a reflection on last year’s word of the year

I’ve been working with the magic of a word of the year since over a decade, and it’s never failed to transform my life in small and big ways. This year, though, my word remained elusive. I had nothing. Nada. Zilch. Zero.

Every time I thought of the new year looming ahead of me, I felt a little flutter of anxiety. I’ve had a guiding word of the year for 11 years, after all, and I’m not sure I know quite how to function without one.

It sounds rather dramatic, even to me, especially since I don’t take it too seriously. I’m always open to more words showing up during the year, or changing my word if the one I chose at the start of the year doesn’t seem right any more. I even started 2024 with an image rather than a word.

Plus a reflection on last year’s word of the year

Choosing a word of the year can be an intensely transformative journey — even when you lose sight of your word, it doesn’t lose sight of you. I should know. This is, after all, my 11th year choosing a word of the year. And while there have been years when I have forgotten all about my word (I’m looking at you, 2020), that word has still, somehow, worked its magic in my life.

After all, words are spells. They have an inherent magic and power that can work in ways you may never have anticipated to bring you the exact medicine you need at any point of time. Which is why I don’t take my word of the year practice too lightly. I need to be clear on at least some aspects of what I’m drawing towards me with the word that I choose.

I’ve been working with the magic of a word of the year since a decade, and it’s never failed to transform my life in small and big ways. This year, though, my word remained elusive. All I had for the longest time was an image.

It wasn’t just any image, either. It was a specific card from a specific tarot deck that stalked me every time I thought about my word of the year.

This one.

Words, they say, are spells. And the word of the year can be an intensely potent spell that you cast not just over a year, but — dare I say it? — over a lifetime. They have an inherent magic and power that can work in ways you may never have imagined, to bring you the exact medicine you need at any point of time.

That medicine can sometimes be bitter, sometimes not. But like any good medicine, a word of the year can change you in bold and beautiful ways. Like Devotion. My word of the year for 2022. It was a bitter pill to swallow, and yet — it swept through my life, leaving me with some important and necessary questions to answer.

Devotion. That was my word for 2022. And what an interesting experience it has been!

I started the year by listing down the areas that I was devoted to, all of the places where I wanted to bring my love + attention + care. That included my health and my relationship with my body; my art and creative practices; my relationships and friendships; and my connection with my soul + the divine.

Sovereignty. That was my word for 2021. And what a ride it has been!

I started the year with a sovereignty list. A list of ideas that I had bought into that didn’t really hold true for me anymore. And as usually happens, as the year progressed, I lost sight of that list.

But it didn’t lose sight of me.

I pulled the list out while doing my year end Visioning, and to my surprise, I had achieved almost everything on that list, plus some more!

My word of the year made itself known to me at the start of December. After Radiate showed me all the ways in which I still don’t trust myself, the word that showed up seemed rather apt. It was a word that had come under consideration in previous years too, but I’d passed it over. This would be its year, I thought.

Then, in mid-December, I did my annual year ahead tarot spread. The cards that came up didn’t feel like a great fit with the word that had presented itself. But instead of trying to puzzle it out, I decided to simply document my cards, make some notes, and go about my day.

Radiate. That was my word for the year. And though I lost sight of it as soon as lockdowns hit, it didn’t quite lose sight of me.

Radiate led to my first curated group art show, and then immediately showed me all the ways in which I still don’t trust my abilities enough to take pride in my achievements.

An offhand comment by a so-called friend led to a shame spiral that lasted most of the year. It’s only around November that I realized I was viewing myself through the lens of someone else’s jealousy and opinions, and took steps to rectify my error.

Flourish. That was my word for the year. It felt like the perfect combination of growth and ease after the very gentle energy of Bloom in 2018.

And a perfect combination it has been. So much has happened in 2019, that I’m still wrapping my head around it all.

Flourish helped me to deepen and expand my art practice.  I spent much more time at the painty table – even during the summer, which used to be my leanest art period, and my artistic voice and vision grew louder and deeper.Continue reading→