I have never chosen a “word of the year” before, but I’ve been seeing more and more people post about it, and it intrigued me. The intent is to think about what you want your year ahead to look like, and to pick a word that encapsulates that, as a kind of guide for the coming year. It’s like goals but a little more broad and vague – nothing specific or actionable, but just big picture thinking.
So I was already thinking about my word of the year, and then I saw this post on Instagram – the illustrator Laura Palmer teamed up with blogger Abra Belke to create a custom word of the year print. I loved the idea of a tangible, visual reminder of what I want to guide me through 2022! I loved the words that Laura and Abra chose (wild and fearless, respectively), and started to think about what I wanted my word of the year to be. So I chose…
Inspired
As someone who loves to write, I guess it’s not super shocking that I’d choose inspired as my word. I have some big writing goals for this year – I mentioned in this post that I want to draft a book, and I want to continue to grow my blog, which, of course, involves lots of writing. But I need to remind myself to hold on to that feeling of inspiration – that moment when you’re so inspired that it’s hard to get the words down on the page quickly enough. Become sometimes, I just feel so stuck in a rut that it feels like absolutely nothing could ever inspire me. But hopefully, looking at this helps me remember that I can be inspired by the little things around me all the time.
But it goes beyond that, too. I don’t know if you’re familiar with the term “inspiration porn” – if you are, you probably know where this is going; if not, stick with me. Inspiration porn is the concept that disabled people are found to be inspirational for doing the most basic of things – going out for coffee, or to dinner with friends, or shopping for groceries. Basically, it’s when disabled people are found to be inspirational just for existing.
So choosing “inspired” as my word is my way of taking that and turning it on it’s head. It’s my way of taking ownership of the narrative that society places on me, and reframing it to fit my own narrative of my life and the year ahead. I’m taking back the power for 2022!
Did you choose a word of the year? I’d love for you to share in the comments if you did, or what your word will be if you’re just choosing now!
