All about the energy
My word for the year is ENERGY
I haven’t done a word of the year for a while. I used to, I used to spend a long time reflecting on my past year and setting intentions for the future. But, let’s face it, the last few years have been a lot to process. Both on a national/international level and on a personal level too.
Expecting one word to hold me up and support me through a whole year seemed like a pretty big ask to be honest. I couldn’t ask that much of a couple of letters strung together, when I could barely hold myself together.
But this year, tentatively, seems different. I’m not sure how or why but the energy seems to have shifted for me. And as I was doing some random journaling the other day the word ENERGY jumped out at me with quite startling clarity.
It seemed as good a word as any to go with but the more I thought about it, the more sense it made to think of myself as a battery. I can either do things that charge me up, refresh me and energise me. Or I can do the opposite. Engaging in activities that I find draining or being around people or situations that deplete my energy.
In terms of trying to be more intentional with my time it’s the perfect analogy for me to use. When thinking about my day I have a spare 30 minutes, for example. I can either go for a short walk in the fields near my house, or I can scroll through social media (again). There’s no contest when it comes to deciding which activity will help me feel more energised.
Walking away vs moving forward
The photo above was taken yesterday on a family walk in the Lake District. We managed to dodge the rain and had a lovely walk through forest trails before the next squalls hit us. I stopped to look back along the track we had just walked and snapped a photo - well, actually I was catching me breath as it was pretty steep - but allow me to save face and pretend I was being arty.
Stopping to look back at the path really made me think - it was as beautiful behind us as it was in front. But as lovely as the path behind us was, we still needed to move forward in order to see what was ahead of us.
I think 2023 was a bit like that for me. It was pretty good, pretty comfortable and probably pretty easy compared to previous years and for that reason it felt warm and safe. It’s easy to see why I would be reluctant to leave that behind.
But, new things await. Exciting things await. I’m certain of that. And I won’t find them if I don’t pay attention to where my energy goes.
Reading that has energised me this week:
This post from Suzy Walker
Inspirational words from Claire Venus
The title of this caught my eye more than anything, but my goodness, it really made me think about what we leave behind in the old year and what we decide to carry forward into the new.
A new year’s gift for paid subscribers.
If you are a member of my paid Everyday Knitter community here please read on for a new years gift from me to you - an exclusive discount code that will allow you to chose and download one of my knitting patterns or e-books for free (until 8 Jan). If you aren’t currently a member please do have a think about joining us. You can take advantage of the Substack free trial offer so there’s nothing to lose. And with a new book club read starting shortly it would be perfect timing.
