I was reading on twitter at the end of last year Anna from
Skin and Blister (she is inspiring me a lot lately as you can probably tell) writing about
finding a word for the year and I've been struggling to come up with something.
And here is my word now:
gen·u·ine
Adjective
- Truly what something is said to be; authentic: "genuine leather".
- (of a person, emotion, or action) Sincere.
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| Synonyms | | |
true - real - authentic - sincere - honest - veritable
I kept the synonyms in this post as most of them have been in the running for being the word for me and I'm still toying with honest to a degree.
Here is the thing. Last year I think I felt a bit off for a lot of the year and I think it is because I was not being very true to myself. Not the genuine article, not the me I am in my head.
I listened to new music a lot less than normal, I drank a lot more than normal, I ate a lot more than normal, I hid, I lied to myself, I punished myself.
I spent a year trying to fit this round peg into a square hole of what I thought I needed to be, or what other people might expect of me and it led to me feeling trapped and stuck and lost all at once. There were shining days when I did not feel like that (notably our wedding) but so much of the time was me being who I thought I needed to be.
The longer the year went on the further I moved from the image I have of myself in my head. The person I want to be. The person I know I already have all the bits in me to become. That is who I want to be this year. It means no more excuses to myself but being honest, genuine and true.
It also means that even though I've not picked true as a word I'm going to have True by Spandau Ballet stuck in my head all year. That and this:
I think its going to be a good year. |
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I really like the idea of choosing a word to define the year. Something that you can stay true to. Sort of like a guiding principle or even an abrupt mission statement. But, it is a difficult task. I've been trying to think of a word for me, and it is a struggle. Still haven't narrowed it down to one word yet.
ReplyDeleteIt took me ages to narrow it to this range but I feel quite inspired by it already!
DeleteI am proud of you for writing this. Be you. YOU are all kinds of awesome. Siobhan substitutes will not be accepted.
ReplyDeleteYour year is going to be GREAT.
Thank you!
DeleteHappy New Year Siobhan- it's going to be just grand Xx
ReplyDeleteThank you Lisa!
DeleteThis is great writing Siobhan. I felt the same a couple of years ago and it was one of the reasons I started my blog to just write what I wanted and not worry about other people, I was far more anonymous when I first started Skin and Blister for that reason but now it's brought me out my shell a lot.
ReplyDeleteAfter I had George I lost my way a little bit about who I was and what I was supposed to be doing. You will get there, just keep that word in mind. I really hope it helps you this year. I know that my word last year kept showing up all over the place, even the months where I wasn't really looking for it.
I like the idea that the word will stay with me even when I'm not focussed on it. I think that is the power of a word? Thank you so much for your comment! x
DeleteAwesome choice of words.
ReplyDeleteHope 2013 is all you want it to be and more. :)
Awesome choice of WORD, I mean. Accidental pluralization!
ReplyDelete