One of my favorite blog posts is always my Word of the Year post. I love coming up with a word, or better yet, letting a word make its way to me. I have always believed in fresh starts and new beginnings and selecting my word helps me set the intentions for my year.
The word is a bigger guide than my resolution lists. While I might resolve what I won’t be doing this year (eating too much sugar, slacking on my workouts, or spending too much money on things I don’t need) my word tells me what I will be doing or better yet what I’m aspiring to. That speaks to me- aspiration that is.
Last year my word was Stretch and I thought of all of the positive ways in which I could extend myself and all the ways I might grow. I was excited about my word and then the bottom fell out.
A few weeks after announcing my word for the year our community experienced an unimaginable tragedy that would ricochete and somehow shards of that metaphorical blast would land squarely at our doorstep—so much of what I’d grown accustomed to changed in the blink of an eye. And my Word of Year took on a new meaning.
I did indeed have to stretch in ways that I hadn’t imagined before. I had to think in ways that I had not considered and behave in ways that sometimes felt foreign. But when all the smoke cleared I realized that I (well we) never lost sight of who we were. And I (again we) did what we always do. We kept moving in the right direction and now I am stronger and stretchier in ways that I hadn’t quite imagined before. And strangely enough, I love the place we’re in now. Our options seem open in a way that they hadn’t been before and our lives are more flexible in a way that I’d often dreamed they’d be one day….
So when my word showed up it made perfect sense. Restore- as in reinstate, refurbish, rebuild, and mend. “The building has been lovingly restored.”
After so much upheaval and trying to figure out our next steps, I’m ready to get back to the things that we’ve always wanted to do. I’ll be focusing more on my writing career and we may even be moving into that forever home we’ve always dreamed of (and hopefully back to the city that we love). My daughter, my son-in-law, and the grandkids are planning to move home too. So I’m looking forward to returning to what we love most and dusting off some old dreams.
And instead of lamenting what was, I’ll be keeping this quote in mind- “In order to rise from its own ashes, a Phoenix first must burn”. It’s a little dramatic I’ll admit, but sometimes we indeed have to let go of what we’ve become accustomed to to uncover (or lovingly restore) the very best version of who we were always meant to be.
I’d love to hear your word for the year if you’ve chosen one.
Wishing you a Happy New Year!
Xo Tonya Parker
The Real Chic Life 
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