Hello, friends. Happy New Year. I hope your holidays, however you celebrated, have been merry and bright.
For the last few Decembers, I’ve spent time choosing (or discovering) a word to guide me through the year to come. Sometimes, like this year, that word gets a bit lost in the continuing shuffle of my daily routine, of commutes and obligations and books and social media. (I am learning not to beat myself up when this happens.)
Some words, as with my 2010 word, “brave,” resonate through my life like a deep gong, providing a key and a touchstone for many experiences. (I still wear the word “brave” around my neck.) And sometimes, as with my 2011 word (“comfort”), the result falls somewhere in between.
My word for 2013 came from three different books which pointed up a continuing need in my life: the need to be present, to stop walking through life distracted, to wish or plan or dream away the moments that are happening now. The first passage is one I read years ago, from Lauren Winner’s book Mudhouse Sabbath, and it has remained in my heart ever since:
You don’t find candles lit in frenetic houses; you find them lit in houses where people are trying to pay attention.
This summer, before taking a writing workshop with Lauren at the Glen, I read her latest book, Still: Notes on a Mid-Faith Crisis, and was stunned by this passage:
Five years after her funeral, it is as if my mother has reached up from the grave and pulled my head, held my head the way a person holds a cat by the scruff of the neck, and said: There; look there. […]
I want her to know that I am trying. I am trying to pay attention. I am trying to look.
And finally, Barbara Brown Taylor spoke eloquently to the value of attention in our everyday lives:
What is saving my life now is the conviction that there is no spiritual treasure to be found apart from the bodily experiences of human life on earth. My life depends on engaging the most ordinary physical activities with the most exquisite attention I can give them.
—An Altar in the World
I know that attention is not a magic cure: some days will still be mundane or dark or difficult, even when I give them my full attention. But I believe attention garners rich rewards when we make it a practice: we notice flashes of light, literal and metaphorical, that we might miss otherwise. I live in a city and a culture where everyone is often most focused on themselves and their own problems. What would happen, I wonder, if I turned some of my attention outward, to the people and places and things among whom I walk?
This year, I intend to find out.
I want more wonder in my life, more quiet focus, more moments when I am aware of being fully present to the here and now. Less distraction, and greater clarity. I am hoping to gain some of all these things by paying attention.
Do you, or have you, chosen a word for the year? If you have, I’d love to hear about it.
Good choice of word. We should all make the effort to pay more attention to our present… it can be difficult to do with smartphones glued to our eyes but definately something worth doing.
My word for 2013 is Gratitude. I want to focus more on the good things in my life and not on what I do not have. I also want to be more thankful about how lucky I am compared to those in countries which are not so well off.
Balance. My life has changed. Children are off at college. My heart, my mind, my body…all changing. I need some equilibrium. To find myself in this new phase of my life. Balance. Something new, something fun. To learn new things. Find new paths. But to maintain balance (or really to find it again).
A great word, Katie. I’m still brewing on mine! : )
2012 was the year of being brave for me, and what a difference it has made! This year is about being positive, and finding balance. I can’t choose between the two so I’m going to aim for both.
Yes~I chose the word New. It’s my third year to choose a word. First came the word Now because of my tendency to look back and look forward and miss the Now. Through that experience I discovered my second word, which was Slowly. I wanted to savor the Now. Well, I see how I need to embrace what is New in these Now moments I’m savoring. As my daughters grow up and my parents age I want to see and embrace the fresh and new of the season.
By the way, I adore your blog. I visited on New Year’s Eve and copied your In 2012 I . . . post. Thanks for the inspiration! ~Blessings with your year of Attention~
I have chosen a word for 2013 and it’s related to yours: mindfulness. If you haven’t read Susan Cain’s book about being quiet, you should. It’s powerful and deep. Cheers to being attentive and mindful this year.
I love what you say here about the power of attention. I’ve been living this way for a year or two and I have to say it’s radically changed my daily experience. I look forward to reading your insights and observations. xoxo
I took a class on mindfulness while I was getting my Masters in Social Work and it proved to have very positive benefits in my practice and my life. Attention will be a great word for you, Katie. I can feel it.
I’ll be revealing my word sometime next week!
Beautiful! Lauren and Barbara are two of my favorite memorist and I love this tradition.
Perhaps I’ll do it too. My word will be: Breathe.
I need to whether life’s storms with greater calm.
I love your word for 2013. I also love choosing a word each year. It always seems to anchor and focus each year. My word for 2013 is “NEW”
I have been thinking along these very same lines, feeling as if I need to pay more attention to everyday life, to the quiet moments, to the world around me. Are you familiar with the work of Katrina Kenison, and her memoir The Gift of an Ordinary Day? She writes beautifully about the magic of small moments.
Blessings to you, Katie, for 2013!
Attention is SUCH a good choice. I love it. I find myself easily frustrated when I go too long without it, especially if I’ve been plodding along waiting for insight to show up without any work 🙂
Happy new year!
Reblogged this on The Song I Live By and commented:
I love this post about finding using a word to guide a way of living. For a year. Its a sort of New Year’s resolution. Attention is a great word, as is bravery, and comfort. I’ve a few good ones on my list, its hard to pick only one out of creativity, gratitude, and wilderness. But, as I was out on the ice road tonight, in the dark, under a clear black sky bursting with stars, on a warm night (only -15, heavenly), with my faithful retriever running beside me, while I was on my kicksled (so much fun, I’ll tell you more about it), I realized that what really makes my heart sing is being outside, away from people, and man made things. There is something about the Great Quiet that is so restorative. So my word will be The Great Quiet, (okay, not really one word), which is what I mean by wilderness. Tell me what your word is. What makes your heart sing most?
I love this, thank you. I reblogged it on my blog, thesongiliveby.wordpress.com, as it follows up on my own post about new year’s resolutions. My word is The Great Quiet – which is the feeling I get from being in the wilderness. I want to have that feeling as much as I can.
My 2013 word is “light.” I want to see the light, be a light, and perhaps even become lighter (physically). It’s fun to see where these words take us…
I think my word is “Engage” – – I tend to be a lurker on blogs, a follower on Twitter but rarely comment or respond. And then I wonder why the bloggers all know each other but not me when I feel like I know them (yes, I know how irrational that is). This year I’m going to join the virtual conversation.
I love this entry! Thank you so much for your insights on “attention” That is something I would like to pick for 2013 as well
I love your word. It’s definitely something I continue to strive for as well. I chose three words this year – things I want to focus on basically. Home, Story, and Believe. Believe would be my choice for the one-word version.
[…] I chanced upon a wonderful post by Katie of Cakes, Tea and Dreams, explaining how every year she chooses a single word to be her focus. This year, her word is […]
[…] choosing three words for their year instead of making New Year’s Resolutions. Felicity and Katie have done one word again, which I admire greatly but did not have the focus to accomplish this […]
Beautiful stories behind your word, Katie. I finally have my post up about my word: GROW. word of the new(ish) year