Word of the Year 2020: Leisure

The finest workers in stone are not copper or steel tools, but the gentle touches of air and water working at their leisure with a liberal allowance of time.
~ Henry David Thoreau ~

It’s been my experience change is indeed possible.  However, it cannot happen in the abstract.  Clarity, focus, and time are super important components.

Ten years ago, instead of relying on resolutions to launch my year (which never seem to last), I started choosing just one word to be my North Star.  It becomes my personal and simple mission statement for the year.  It is a fixed destination I can depend on as the world is in chaos around me.

This tiny refinement has been a blessing for me.  Choosing just one word gives my life the clarity I hunger for and the space to breathe.  I am not bogged down by a never-ending list of shoulds or have-tos, but instead am hyper focused on ONE thing to integrate into my days.  And finally, I spend a whole YEAR on this one word, allowing enough time to gently infuse itself into my whole being.

As I wrap up this year, I pause to reflect how GRACE, my chosen word for 2019 guided me. Quite frankly, after looking over how the year progressed, there couldn’t have been a better choice.

The first quarter of this year was spent caring for my mother in the waning months of her life (she passed on April 15) at a convalescent facility.  My every waking moment was spent engulfed with her care.  To make her as comfortable as she could be in the situation she was in.  One of the definitions of Grace I embodied most during this time was “to confer dignity or honor on.”

When she passed, it was time to turn that Grace towards myself.  Believe it or not, that was a little harder to do.  ::giggle::

Suddenly, taking care of someone was not a part of my day.  To put it bluntly, it pretty much freaked me out.  I had to begin rearranging those constantly prodding brain neurons to care for someone else and focus them on taking care of me.  The question I kept asking myself was “What’s next?”

Over the months, with grace and gratitude, I began to figure out the answer to that question.  Through a lot of writing, healing work and introspection, I came to understand some things about myself I hadn’t acknowledged before.

I am no stranger to addiction issues … via family, friends and personal challenges.  I have come to believe every one of us has an addiction to something.  After all, addiction is being compulsively or physiologically dependent on something that becomes habit-forming.

While contemplating this premise, I landed on an addiction which took me by surprise.

I have this incessant need to feel PRODUCTIVE.  In other words, I need to always be busy.  Doing something.  I even convinced myself taking naps were productive because it allowed me to get more done after.  Reading online was productive (I call it RESEARCH, ha) because it helped me with my business and future goals.  If I went out for a beer on the beach listening to music, that was productive, because one needs down time or they will flip out, right?

See a pattern there?  Napping, reading and enjoying food/music … these are normal relaxing things to do.  Yet, in my mind, they are just a part of being productive.

While digging deeper into this line of thinking, I discovered a very strong trigger in being called LAZY.  Not being able to place the exact moment where this developed in my life — all I know is my struggle with never giving anyone the idea I was lazy.

Hmmmm … napping, reading and enjoying food/music is equated to being lazy.

WHAT THE HECK?!?

Logically, I know that sounds idiotic.  However, somewhere deep, I have to convince myself the relaxing, refreshing times are only allowed if they are productive.

This is the precise reason I have chosen LEISURE as my 2020 focal word.

A personal rule of mine when picking a word is it needs to make me squirm.  A comfortable word won’t help me grow.  I need something out of my comfort zone to inspire and move me to the next step in my life’s journey.  Believe this, the word LEISURE makes me squirm.

Allow me to break this down.  The following is the first definition I found for my chosen word:

Leisure — noun — freedom provided by the cessation of activities

When I consider that definition is it asserting I have to STOP doing something to achieve freedom?  Can that be right?  If so, that means even the activity of breathing would be included?  😉

I know I know. … In reality, the definition doesn’t say that.  That is black/white or give/take thinking.  Leisure has a more nuanced and I believe a more balanced definition.

Consider another definition:

Leisure — noun — free, unoccupied time during which a person may indulge in rest, recreation, etc.

Ok, this is getting a little closer.  However, still not the thought process I am envisioning.  With continuing research, I came across an article which described leisure this way:

What is leisure? As the balance between work and rest, it is the opposite of idleness because it is the basis from which good work starts and grows. We might say that leisure is the beginning of all virtues in the sense that it is an inner attitude of openness and trust. Its characteristics are “taking it easy” rather than “keeping busy,” of “allowing things to happen,” not “keeping things under control.”

That totally fits me to a tee.  That is what I need … a lesson on taking it easy and allowing things to happen.

Thus, leisure becomes a lesson in awareness, being open to my intuition and trusting its power.  Focusing on awareness will help me get grounded and in turn help me live a life encompassing my values and belief system.  Additionally, with awareness I will recognize the feasts my Higher Power has prepared for me found in the most unlikely places; if I would only stop and stare.

Synchronicity dropped the following poem in my lap one day when I was waffling about my word … once read, it cemented the decision for me (you can click on it to make it larger).

What about you?  Have you chosen a Word of the Year?  If not, I am providing a worksheet which might help you discover your Word/Phrase of the Year. It can be accessed by clicking here.

P.S.  You may want to augment and complement your Word of the Year with a song, picture, quote, biblical passage, phrase, artwork, yoga pose, etc.  The sky is the limit here; whatever connects, tethers, and grounds your word.

Personally, along with the poem above, I have chosen a song.  My choice, I know is cliché, but it’s easy, familiar and it will prove to be a handy touchstone when I am thinking I need to be productive.

“Take It Easy” performed by the Eagles (these lines in particular)

Take it easy
Don’t let the sound of your own wheels drive you crazy
Lighten up while you still can
Don’t even try to understand
Just find a place make your stand
Take it easy

Further, I have selected a biblical quote by David from the 23rd Psalm:

In grassy pastures he makes me lie down;
He leads me to well-watered resting-places.

Over the past decade, choosing a Word of the Year has proven a very successful tool for me. It has become an effective rudder and helped me steer the changes I desired to make in my life. It becomes a beacon and a lodestar bolstering my focus for seeing real changes.

I encourage you to give it go and best wishes on realizing your goals for 2020!