I love words. I often pour over the Thesaurus, pin-balling from word to word to find the right assembly of letters, the perfect match for the thought or emotion I am trying to convey. It is part of a writer’s art, just as a painter might blend colors, we seek the words.

At the turning of 2014, my brother, Nigel, threw out a challenge to read, One Word That Will Change Your Life. It’s a quick read that asks simple, thought-inspiring questions. The ultimate goal is to choose the one word for your year. This isn’t an easy task for a word girl. After much meditation and single word journaling I settled in on my word for 2014: kind.

To me, the word, kind, different from her sweeter cousin, nice, meant that I was responsible in my thoughts and actions. Kind meant that I was on purpose with conversations, that I was loving and fierce with my truth. It also meant that I extended grace and avoided sarcasm and hurtfulness. Kind meant that I didn’t push others aside or down to elevate myself, even for the sport of humor.

Shortly after I chose the word kind, I landed a fortune cookie that read, “Your kindness is surely to be repaid.” I still have that fortune slip in my wallet. At first I thought it was a validation of my good word choice, but later I realized that real kindness doesn’t expect payment. If kindness is looking for an ROI, it might be more of an emotional loan. Kindness just is. Kindness just does.

My Chicks Group had several words for 2014. We started the new year with cherish. We were supposed to cherish ourselves and our group. We were going to look for ways to cherish one another. I don’t want to say that we failed at this word, in reflection, I don’t think it was the right word for our change-laden year.

During a trip in February, several Chicks gathered together to assign good side and shadow side words. To be fair, not every Chick was present and Mimosas were found at the crime scene. My good side was insightful. My shadow – controlling. Let me tell you that if you try to convince a group of friends who know you really well to replace your word (controlling) with another, you only validate their point. If you want stop being known as controlling, then stop being controlling.

Another word that popped up in 2014 was a Chicks original, cra-geous, which is a combination of courageous and crazy. Fueled by High-Octane cra-geousness, this was the year that I (according to my FitBit,) danced 5.4 miles, had a nice conversation with a young, buff police officer and shared dreams and pains in a mountain hot tub. While these things didn’t all happen at the same time, I am grateful for the fun that I had in 2014. I am especially grateful for crageous Chicks Gina and Teresa who ran beside me, wild and free.

The other words that were important to me this year were purpose, gratitude, understanding, and release. This was a year that I quested for truth. Think Gollum here, “We wants it; we needs it. Must have the precious. They stole it from us.” This is how I charged towards my truth in 2014. While it is unlikely than anyone else robbed me of my truth, I did have to open some scary doors where I thought my monsters were hiding, and I had to kindly confront those monsters. Julia Cameron writes, “You cannot be held hostage by the truth.” I feel lighter as I end this year, less encumbered and enabling, but still on the journey, grateful for the journey.

I am excited to share my word for 2015 which means: (1) simple, easy; (2) start on fire; (3) illuminate; (4) funny, cheery; (5) not heavy; (6) context, point of view, understanding; (7) step down, land; (8) luminescence from sun or other source; (9) small in amount, content.

The envelope, please. Thank you.

My word is: LIGHT. All of the above definitions fit the life I am building in 2015.

May you shine as we cross over to a new calendar. I hold you up in the light of our universe and the love of our Creator.

Happy New Year!