Word for 2018 | Listen

Rather than New Year’s Resolutions, which always (in my experience, at least) tend to fall over within a week or two, I’ve spent a few years picking a word for the year (along with a gazillion other people – it’s not something I came up with all by myself). Last year’s word was ‘Inspire’, 2016’s was probably ‘Mindfulness’ or possibly ‘Serenity’, though I don’t seem to have written out down anywhere, 2015’s was ‘Success’ and, according to Facebook’s ‘On this day’ thingy, 2014’s was ‘Serenity’.

I’m never quite sure how well this word of the year thing works, but it feels more positive and motivational than a big lists of things to give up, so I still like doing it. Along with getting a gazillion (yes, I like that word, what?) diaries and journals, usually only one of which gets used beyond January (the day to a page one that sits on my desk and gets my daily/weekly (mostly work) planning written in). Maybe this year will be different, because I also bought myself a fountain pen so I can write beautifully in the beautiful diaries I bought. Hmm…

I’ve been finishing off the year working, which isn’t what I’d choose to do, really, though I’m reminding myself that I had a leisurely couple of months at the start of the academic year, including two trips abroad, which makes doing a bit of work in the holidays really quite bearable. But we also have family visiting and so will be seeing in the New Year this evening with a lovely meal and family games and/or films and children trying to stay awake until midnight, which will be wonderful and a perfect way to celebrate.

I have a few plans for this year, but they will stay in my head (or journals), so that I don’t jinx them.

My word for 2018 is going to be ‘Listen’ (which you probably guessed from the picture up there). This, I feel encompasses a whole lot of different kinds of listening, both physical, emotional and metaphorical, but it is definitely inspired by a desire to do a lot better at listening to my children and family. Part of this will involve putting the phone away more (I have a new phone and have lapsed back into bad social-media-checking habits since my refreshing detox in November) so that I can concentrate on people in the room, as opposed to people all round the world. But I also need to remember (or learn – maybe I’ve never done it) how to store the things that I listen to so that they are still there the next day or the next week, or the next year. I tend to store away things that I see (colours and images the most, I think, these days, at least) or read much more easily than things I hear. Which leads to me forgetting what people say to me.

So I will aim, this coming year, to:

• listen to my family
• listen to my friends
• listen to music
• listen to birds
• listen to silence
• listen to curiosity
• listen to inspiration
• listen to characters
• listen to ideas
• listen to beliefs
• listen to opinions
• listen to evidence
• listen to possibilities
• listen to water
• listen to breath.

And just listen in general.

I’d love to hear about your Word for the Year, or resolutions, plans or intentions if you do that kind of thing.