The sun rises on 2024, with three new words.

The sun rises on another day, the first day of 2024. It is hard work for the sun, rising on a midwinter day in the northern hemisphere. In this part of Scotland the sky is still dark when my body wakes naturally and if the sky is not overcast, golden light spills in through the windows as the sun approaches the horizon.

Silhouette shadows of plants dance on the walls as the sun creeps up and moves slowly across the lower sky.

Every day brings promise and curiosity about what it will bring. Just like the start of a new year. And I broach each new year with curiosity and optimism. Along with my hopes and intentions for the coming months. I bring my new three word mantra into the New Year to remind me of those hopes and intentions and to guide and inspire me to realise them.

For the past weeks I have been savouring my process of reflecting on the past months, thinking about the coming year and seeking the perfect words to capture those intentions. This past few weeks however, have had a mist thrown over them in the form of my second bout of covid. It has left me with a heavy fatigue and a mind that is foggy and slow. Seeking words has been a sludgy process. But as ever, the words themselves seem to play an important part of the magic. I have been holding on to a few precious words, trying them individually, sitting them together to see if they fit. They need to stand on their own communicating their particular intention, as well as being teammates which bring a synergy to the flavour of the coming year. I have been trying on three words for the past few days, but they seemed to jar a little together when placed side by side, a little like a jigsaw piece which looks fine but sits a little awkwardly. Distracted, I turned to my book yesterday morning and one of the first words I read called out to me from the page. I hadn’t found the right word, the right word had found me and slipped comfortably into the place of the word which didn’t quite fit. The jigsaw piece was a perfect fit, the mantra sighed and settled, and so did I, with my three words for 2024:

Contrive, preserve and glow

Contrive

In the coming year it is important that I use this precious time of unfurlment, or soft retirement, wisely. I have been drawing in a number of threads as I settle into this time of my life and I find that these threads have woven into a tapestry which is somewhat ragged and messy at the edges. I want to simplify and disentangle the edges and be able to focus on the main picture. Life is too short to be caught up in distracting details. The word which will guide me in this is “contrive”. This builds on ‘sculpt from last year. Contrive holds a number of nuances, and in particular I like the suggestion from contrive to be in control and proactive in shaping my space and life. This will remind me to be more intentional. I want to ensure that my time is balanced around those essential tasks which need to be done, adulting and the like, life admin and taking care of my responsibilities but also ensuring that I am spending enough time on the things which I enjoy and which are the whole reason for stepping into soft retirement. The lockdown years stalled many plans to shape my physical space and I want to pick up those ideas again. I want to contrive and create spaces which I enjoy to be in. I need to organise shelving for books, storage space for lifetime treasures and declutter some of the keepsakes and papers which amass. I have been simplifying the garden and I now want to shape that into the space I want it to be, where I am drawn to spend time. Contrive will remind and guide me to declutter and simplify my life and design that space as I want. The greater part of this focus is around my home, in recognition of the health limitations which recent years have brought. The past year saw continued health issues bring limitations and along with a change in perspective following the pandemic and an acute awareness of climate emergency, I am no longer drawn by the level of travel which used to be a major part of my life. My focus is more local now, and in the spirit of “contriving” to shape my time, I have already booked a poetry retreat in Scotland in 2024. This will be the most significant travel I will have undertaken since before the pandemic, such a contrast to life and work overseas. Grandmother’s suitcase probably believes she has been retired for good. Contrive will encourage me to carpe the diem in a way which is true to the much gentler life that I am now living. One where frugality and thrift are wise and fitting for the world we live in and for my own space in it.

Preserve

My second word is “preserve”. This word came to be first, and very early in the process. Again it builds on an idea from one of last year’s words. This takes forward  the focus to “harvest” last year. I have made some encouraging progress, consolidating the snippets of writing and swathes of ramblings and I have been refining that into a more structured state. I have been working particularly on my poetry, and find that with all the pieces written over the years and more recently I have a lot of material. I have been shaping that into what I hope will be some smaller pamphlet collections and (in my dreams) a larger collection. I have continued to engage in poetry and writing groups and sessions through the year and feel that I am learning and developing. I was delighted to be asked to share my poetry in the local library one evening talking through my journey both geographically and in writing, covering countries and experiences in many words. I have also been submitting work and had another couple of pieces included in an anthology, a few words in a collective poem to world leaders and performed a poem in an event at Edinburgh’s Push the Boat Out Poetry Festival. A real highlight was being longlisted in a poetry pamphlet competition. Not shortlisted, and nowhere near winning, but the longlisting gave me the valuable validation that there is something taking shape and that I need to keep working on it. What I would love to see would be for that to come to fruition in the future, and for my work to be preserved in a physical format, something that will outlast me. I have also been harvesting my photographs and similarly am thinking of putting together some collections, possibly into photo books but there are so many to choose from. That is a major task, but one which preserve will encourage and remind me to spend time on.

Glow 

My final word is “glow”. I chose this because it will encourage me to thrive, to live my best life and manage limitations rather than feel constrained by them. I won’t be running marathons or climbing mountains but I want to feel as healthy and thrive asfar I can. To see my limitations as something to work around rather than feel regretful or frustrated. Glow can’t change health realities, but it can remind me to be on top of managing my health and wellbeing. The past year has been a challenging one health-wise. I am a terrible worrier, and had been struggling with symptoms which were likely side effects of medications that I was on. Medication changes were slow to bring an improvement and I had to face up to investigations and tests to seek clarification. I also pursued a mental health journey to address unresolved issues from the recent and not so recent past. These have not be easy to work through, but the physical tests have eliminated sinister issues and while there is not a clear answer or diagnosis I have reassurance. The mental health process has brough peace and a level of acceptance of things which cannot be resolved or changed but which can now be rested. In the spirit of facing up to demons, I tackled one of my biggest fears this year. All because of an apple from the tree in my garden. A bite of this sweet fruit triggered a wildly sensitive area of tooth. After years of avoiding dentists following some awful childhood (and adulthood) experiences, I walked into a dentist, sat in the chair and have had that and another tooth treated. This was not in the plan, and I did not honestly think I would ever be able to go to a dentist. Now I have a Dental Plan which includes regular checks, hygienist appointments and a discount on treatments needed. My next plan is to find an optician and check my eyes and replace my glasses if needed. All of this work on my health and wellbeing puts me in a good place to thrive and glow in 2024, not assuming I will be in perfect health, but in the right frame of mind to manage whatever constraints I face.

Glow mirrors and complements the other two words, as it also encourages me to  strengthen the gentle contentment I have found with my life choices. It will encourage me to be active, prioritise my health and with my surroundings contrived to be pleasant spaces, I can enjoy being present in my home and garden. This also encourages me to enjoy opportunities which come my way, and to continue involvement in the writing groups, poetry workshops, Qi Gong sessions and other activities which I enjoy.

This is my 15^th three word mantra, and as ever, as soon as the words settled, I knew they were right. I am ready to rest my 2023 words, “harvest, sculpt and flutter” and pick up my new mantra, perfect for 2024.

This mantra will be especially important as the year will see a particular milestone, one which has been in my mind for many years. I will reach my 65^th birthday in the summer. One which I did not expect to see when I was diagnosed with cancer in 2009, and for which I am incredibly thankful. This birthday is also filled with emotion however, as my mother died on her 65^th birthday, 26 years before I reach the same milestone, a shadow which has sat beside me for all these years. I will be leaning heavily on my three words this year to support me and bring me strength as I approach such a loaded date. All the more reason to seize every day, and to “contrive, preserve and glow” throughout 2024.

May 2024 be kindly, and bring health, happiness and peace across our world.

The sun approaching the horizon on the first day of 2024

Opening the door into 2023, with three little words.

In Scotland, the stroke of midnight heralding the New Year is known as “the bells” and it takes us from Hogmanay (New Year’s Eve) in the past forward in to the New Year. In Scotland the bells have now rung, and we have stepped into the New Year, 2023.

I hug my 2022 words close as I lay them aside, thankful for their company and guidance. They have helped me navigate an eventful yet ordinary year. Again, the year has thrown surprises amidst careful plans and my words have kept me on track.

2022 Reflections

This time last year, I was reflecting on more than the previous months and was aware of a growing sense that I wanted to slow down and spend more time on the things I enjoyed. That was captured in my first word, “unfurl”. I was exploring that balance between “living to work” and “working to live” and wondering  how to feel in control of my time. While I am not quite old enough to receive the state pension, I was increasingly aware that health has been challenging and  I am being realistic, not morbid to acknowledge that I am only a number of months away from the age that my mother died. These are precious years, and I want to enjoy them. A year ago I wrote:

“I am increasingly reminded that I do not want to spend my golden years working flat out. Moving to part time working has affirmed that, and whet my appetite for slowing down even more. My mother died on her 65^th birthday and as I approach that age, I want to step off the speeding roundabout and enjoy the benefit of having worked for the past 40 years, rather than work up to my last email breath.”

Over the end of year break and with the benefit of time to think, I reached a major decision. I would truly unfurl by stepping back from the stability and security of employment. 

This connected with closely with my second word “forage” as I had to be realistic. I would need to find assignments and small pieces of work which would pay the bills and provide the necessities. Having refined life quite considerably intentionally as well as reactively from the pandemic and health issues, as well as having moved to part time work, this was not as scary as it might have been just a few years ago. I knew I could “forage” for work and draw on the resources I have to live. And I have been extremely fortunate that things have found me, as well as me finding them and I am content in a modest lifestyle. 

Which confirms that I “savour” what I have, my third word reminding me to appreciate and value my life and everything I am fortunate enough to hold close. 

Again, my mantra has guided me through the year and 2022, the year where Covid played a less prominent but not insignificant role, is characterised by those words “unfurl, forage and savour.”

Embracing 2023

This is now the 14^th year that I have chosen three words for the coming year. Every year is a little different. Sometimes the words land quickly and easily. Sometimes they take longer and throw up more options. But every year, they settle and once my mantra is in place, I feel my shoulders relax and I am comforted to adopt the new words. This year, the words settled fairly quickly and I have been trying them on, ready to wrap around me as 2023 begins.

Harvest

The first word arrived very quickly and easily. I am a hoarder in that I gather and treasure little things that have meaning. I was struck during a recent writing group by mention of a “word hoard”, words which Seamus Heaney used and which chimed with a number of us. 14 years of 3 word mantras has provided me with a very rich word hoard. In addition to that though, I have a treasury of precious bits and pieces. But by that, I don’t mean valuables. I am surrounded by little “treasures”.  A Prague bus ticket, a bookmark from a little bookshop in Cambodia, a little water colour I found in a tiny shop in Zanzibar, a set of tea light holders from Morocco, a notebook from a women’s project in Nepal, an eternal desk calendar from Borneo, a lacquerware box gifted to me by a friend in Myanmar … These are treasure in that each one holds memories and sentiment which come rushing to me if I pick them up. They take me instantly to that place I was exploring and learning about and the people I connected with. That is the real treasure. I have a lifetime of memories, mega bytes and mega albums of photographs, snippets of half written poems and stories and I want to make the most of these. My first word will guide me, as I plan to “harvest” this rich hoard and shape it into something which I can share. 

Sculpt

That connects with my second word. In order to shape my harvest of goodies, I need to be structured. In fact, I need to ensure that in a life of unfurlment, I need to have structure to make the most of time and energy. My second word is “sculpt” and that will prompt me to shape and structure my life and activities. I will be reminded to bring form to what I am doing, but this will allow me to be creative and incorporate new ideas and opportunities. My mother was an artist, mainly painting and sketching but later in her life, she began experimenting with clay. I am not sure of how things came about, but her work attracted the attention of the art department of Aberdeen University and they gave her a scholarship to attend for several weeks to develop her skills and learn techniques. She would produce batches of pottery pork pies as kitsch mementoes for Melton Mowbray, the town she lived in, renown for pork pies. She didn’t enjoy making them at all, but she called them her “bread and butter.”  In other words, they provided the income and means to enable her to sculpt the pieces she loved creating. Harvesting that memory now, 25 years after her death, I realise I am doing something very similar and the word “sculpt” holds that additional precious association. I trust it to help bring shape and meaning to the coming months, and hopefully bring to life some tangible results, particularly in the form of writing.

Flutter

My third word particularly complements “sculpt” by recognising how easily I am distracted by tiny wonders from the corner of my eye and new thoughts and ideas from the corners of my mind. I am like a butterfly and when I “flutter” from one thing to another, new ideas emerge and I find myself off another adventure. That spontaneity is important to me and while I do need structure, I must allow myself to follow those flitterings of notions and ideas and see where they take me. Butterflies fascinate me, and I write about them as well as while away happy moments watching their own flutterings. 

And so my words have settled into their mantra, and I can hear them whispering encouragement as I step into the coming year. 

“Harvest, sculpt and flutter”

The sun struggles to rise at this time of year, but as we reach this New Year’s Day, I am comforted to know that the days are slowly gaining additional seconds of daylight. I know that January is a cold and dark month, and with festivities behind us is tough emotionally as well as physically. So I hold on to the knowledge that the days are moving in a direction towards spring.

And I walk towards those spring days with my words to guide me, and wish to each and every one, a happy, healthy and fulfilled 2023.