what are your words for the new year?

Every new year some words choose me, like a magic spell to be cast on the year ahead. This year's ensemble showed up as it's own little poem of truth: Pure Love Innovates.

pure
This may or may not mean something to you, but I have five planets in Virgo (tho' my Sun sign is Gemini, which explains why I do what I do: communicate to the nth.) All that Virgo makes for an obsession with purifying, detoxing, Zen-ifying, eradicating all forms of physical and mental clutter from the known universe, and running through the desert naked. Also explains my kin with fire - the greatest purifier of all. It's not as heavy as it sounds.

  • free from anything of a different, inferior, or contaminating kind; free from extraneous matter: pure gold; pure water.
  • unmodified by an admixture; simple.
  • clear; free from blemishes: pure skin.
  • (of literary style) straightforward; unaffected.
  • abstract or theoretical (opposed to applied ): pure science.
  • without any discordant quality; clear and true: pure tones in music.
  • absolute; utter; sheer: to sing for pure joy.
  • being that and nothing else.
  • clean, spotless, or unsullied: pure hands.
  • untainted with evil; innocent: pure in heart.
  • ceremonially or ritually clean.
  • free of or without guilt; guiltless.
  • independent of sense or experience: pure knowledge.
love

"L-o-v-e" is so overdone, used, abused, misused. This year it occurred to me that Joni Mitchell and I might have one more thing in common than just our citizenship: "I've looked at love from both sides now / from give and take, and still somehow / it's love's illusions I recall / I really don't know love at all." I want to know it and give it. I want to be loving in every way possible.

Marriage is not a love affair,
it's an ordeal.
It is a religious exercise, a sacrament,
the grace of participating in another life.

If you go into marriage with a program,
you will find that it won't work.

Successful marriage
is leading innovative lives together,
being open, non-programmed.
It's a free fall: how you handle each new thing as it comes along.

As a drop of oil on the sea,
you must float,
using intellect and compassion
to ride the waves.

- Joseph Campbell

innovates
admit, bring forward, bring in, coin, conceive, commence, develop, discover, enter, establish, evolve, found, generate, give birth to, hatch, inaugurate, initiate, induct, initiate, install, invent, kick off, launch, make, open up, organize, pioneer, plan, preface, present, produce, set up, spark, start, unveil, usher in.

The year is New. So are you. See you on the other side.
xo
Danielle

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  • Sunna Murphy
    So far this year I have really only had one, that has been embedding itself in my psyche with avengence, RESONANCE.

    This year if it doesn't resonate for me, It is going! Relationships, ways of being, choices, things I do for others, things I do on autopilot, anything and everything. If it doesn't resonate, it isnt right for me, if it isnt right for me than it does not support my authenticity and well-ness, and it is going out the door! Lightness of being. Shedding all those things that do not serve me or support me. WOO HOO for 2010!!!
  • Star Roberts
    For the past several years, I too, have started the new year with a 'word'(just one) that presents itself to me and is my word for the year . This year it is...

    purge |pərj|
    verb [ trans. ]
    rid (someone) of an unwanted feeling, memory, or condition, typically giving a sense of cathartic release
  • Bindi
    Freedom Art & Love
    This is my trinity for the new year. I believe you can't have one without the other two. My goal is to manifest each of them in some way, every day.
    xxx
  • Bindi - yours are great! I wholeheartedly agree. Those would work as well for me as the ones I chose, if not better, as my art work right now is all about love and freedom, trying to raise awareness about (and $ to fight) the problem of sex trafficking.
  • Late to this comment party, but here at last. And couldn't depart without leaving some words.

    I absolutely love this idea of picking words for the new year. (Thank you for inspiring a post from me. Stay tuned.)

    I will follow your lead, and select words that combine to form a little poem of sorts.

    Whatever Happens Rocks.

    Whatever - this is not a lazy word. Far from it. It is an expression of intentional surrender, a claim of power in the face of forces bigger than we are, a nod to reality. How strong we would be if we could stare life in the face and say "whatever." Whatever - this word also connotes a reverence for chance, for whimsy, for openness to possibilities.

    Happens - because things will HAPPEN this year. I am humbly confident (yes, the two things can commingle) that this will be a year of evolution, of growth, of *happening.*

    Rocks - because I simply love this word, its rebellious tint, its firmness and defiance. I also love the noun version - the sense of nature, of foundation, of durability...

    Whatever Happens Rocks.

    Thanks for inspiring me (as always) to think, dream, and let those existential fires rage on. This is going to be a good one.
  • sun in virgo plus 6 planets, or maybe it's 5 with my sun in virgo? all i know is it's a lot but i am glad to know i am not alone in my most virgoan of natures ;)
  • Amy
    2009 was a "9" year for me - completion and transition. 2010 is a "1" year - start fresh and take action. My words for this year:

    Independence (financial)

    Intimacy (emotional and physical)

    Integration (of everything I've learned the past couple years)

    Initiation (of my own projects)
  • These feel a little scary, but also good: Trust. Surrender. Fly.
  • First three words that come up for me: Feel, Practice, Today - as a part of taking care of myself in 2010. I'm putting them on my fridge so I see them every morning. Thanks for this prompt, was extremely helpful!
  • juliek
    undeniable. loving. fertile.
    (as in abundantly productive and creative and nurturing and rich --- NOT in a gyno sense!!!!).

    themes for the year: follow through & kickassery.
  • brooklynchick
    My motto/resolution for 2010 is "Shed Your Obligations!" Yay!
  • I love this practice and your words have great depth. I've chosen just one: hospitality. I mean it in the sense of more than inviting people to supper: inviting into my life every person, every emotion, every difficulty etc that has something to teach me, and also being more hospitable to myself - more welcoming to the parts of me I don't like. There's a wonderful poem by Rumi that encapsulates this which I've quoted on my blog post about this yesterday.
  • I was going over all of the photos I took in 2009 (all 6,825 of them) and I didn't realize that I've been taking pictures of words throughout the yaar. The words that I've photographed are...Bloom, Smile, Love, Peace and Sunshine (which is the second word of my Style Statement, by the way). Another photo is of the name on a side of a boat..."Dare 2 Fly". The last photo is of words written on a pathway close to the finish line of a race...it says Almost There!

    Just thought it was kind of interesting :)
  • dea
    Hey Danielle, where have all the men gone on this post? I will weigh in so I can say I got to hang with 30+ women. My words/theme for this year is "be bold". While I tend to do be more-so with others, I am not when I am alone. Thus I am putting myself out there this year. I am looking to fail often (I am playing the odds...fail more often knowing success will work its way in there somewhere.)

    I literally discovered you last week so I look forward to reading your work in 2010.

    To being bold,

    DD
  • Oops, forgot to add my word.. I decided to go with just one:

    Confidence.
  • Wow I love what you shared about love... (ironic!) I think you're an awesome role model for marriage, though I don't know much about your personal life.. that quote and the way you share it really makes me think and feel on such a deeper level.

    And go Virgoness. I've got lots of Virgo tendencies, so that reigned true for me. ;)
  • Karen Starr
    love
    colorful
    point of difference
  • Sherry Galey
    My 2010 haiku:

    This year I resolve
    to practice love/love practice
    again and again.

    I'm so glad I found your authentic and inspiring voice in 2009, Danielle!
  • Danielle,
    This year is all about sacred creativity and delivery - contractions, bearing down, bloody mess, head crowning and delivery - surrendering to this that is ready to breathe air...
  • my words for the new year?
    I am open & receptive
    I am flowing & surrendering
    I am loving & understanding
  • Passion, transformation and vulnerability

    Passion= everything is better when I am led by what I am truly passionate about.

    Transformation + vulnerability= I want to work on being open to being transformed--by relationships, work, the world around me, and to be transformed by my experiences requires a certain amount of vulnerability, a willingness to open myself to something softer and new.
  • Tania
    I love this! The marriage poem is wonderful and its going on my vision wall. I have 5 Virgo planets( including the Sun) and a Gemini Moon. Every year I choose a phrase. In 2007 it was "Say Yes to All Offers", In 2008 it was "Do the Work" and in 2009 it was "Crazy Courageous". This year kicks off with Saturn in Libra, Pluto at the start of Capricorn, Mars in Leo and most telling and portentous, a Full Moon eclipse in Cancer. My words for this year are Grow and Up.
  • What a great way to contemplate the new year. You've helped me find a newfound love for words! Mmmm... I think mine will be:

    SACRED

    MAGNANIMITY

    and

    FREEDOM
  • This has been a wonderful exercise for me, dear Danielle. My words are the seemingly contradictory EXPAND and STREAMLINE. They lack the poetry of yours (and of others who replied), but they address so many things I desire to learn and accomplish in the upcoming year. I even sat down and wrote down an action plan of sorts on my blog today based on those two words. EXPAND work, project, knowledge, reading / STREAMLINE home, work space, body, routine......

    I reiterate, a great exercise - I got a lot from it. Thank you, and Happy New Year! (Hey- perhaps we'll meet in person this year.....me and the family in Vancouver in August!)
  • This is such a beautiful and inspiring post! I feel like a newborn coming into 2010, just learning to crawl and not quite mastering speech, so I'm a bit short on words. I think I'll start with... LEAP.
  • STAY IN YOUR LANE:
    STAY: support, visit
    IN:fashionable, affiliation
    YOUR: idea, group, belonging, person
    LANE: road, passageway
  • My words for the new year (as someone who is finally getting off her butt to improve on her creative craft) are: courage, creativity, persistence and due diligence AKA write! write! write!
  • 2009: Hope
    2010: Soar

    blogged today by me too! http://bellarose-photography.com/?p=566
  • Sue
    This past year has been all about expression for me. Openly and honestly sharing myself and my opinions/ideas with the people around me. It was the first time I've had a "theme" or grounding word that has shown up over and over in my life during the year. This year I'm feeling a need to develop and express my sensuality. I'll be including massage, fragrance, hugs, great food, , travel, art, poetry, nature....anything that brings enjoyment to my soul and body. I plan to get out of my thoughts and mind more!
  • Lillian
    My reverent thanks Danielle, for being a real light of wit and wisdom in an otherwise challenging year. Namaste.

    A peaceful and prosperous 2010 to all!
  • Shannon
    My words for the year are "nurture" and "discipline." I need to take better care of myself, which includes holding myself and others to higher standards in 2010.
  • My words for 2010 are growth and freedom. Growth as a person, in my business, as a writer; freedom to be who I want to be and do what I want to do.

    I'm doing an inspiration board for the new year tonight, and I might come up with 2-3 secondary words to go with those...but they're the main ones.
  • I have no idea about astrology...but I am a Leo if that tells you anything. I LOVE that marriage poem. I will be sharing that with others as that is a perfect sentiment...like de Saint Exupery's quote about looking outward in the same direction rather than gazing into each other's eyes.
    I just started reading Style Statement so that is something that I am eagerly interested in finding out.
    My word for 2010? INSPIRE... to be an inspiration and to find inspiration, everywhere.
    Thank you for sharing yours today!
    Enjoy the day!
    Erin
  • Deirdre
    Danielle, it makes total sense that you have 5 planets in Virgo - it gives you the ability to see the real thing beyond all the clutter. I have Mars/Pluto and Venus in Virgo, so i have to strip my desires of my bs before I can act or play. I so admire people who can find their way in chaos, but I'm an easily distracted magpie.

    My words for 2010 are strength, simplicity and creativity. It's time to hit the yoga studio and write down all the stuff that's been bouncing around in my head for the last five years.
  • sabrina
    while prepping for New Years Eve day - up @1am cooking and cleaning for the gathering to come - a strong voice burps through - NEVER DOUBT ONESELF -
    and a strong urge to share that info - so Ya'll those are the words i was given and feel I should pass along ! thanks for the venue!

    Heads up, face forward and don't cha give yourself a doubt about it !!!!

    XOXOX
  • the antonyms of doubt: belief, certainty, confidence, dependence, faith, reliance, trust!
  • p.s. my word for the year is "Extraordinary."
  • I am married to a Virgo. I have no idea where his planets or his sun are. But I am an Aries (cusp Pisces) with Cancer rising and Leo in 5 houses. I cannot imagine all those houses in Virgo. You have my sympathy! =]
  • Nicki D (Mars in Virgo)
    The words that came to me are:

    1. Magic
    2. Partnership
    3. Rock Star

    Woo hoo
  • I twisted a few days ago about my words:
    "powerful parternships, perspicacity and play".
    (they have to sound good too!)

    they work as well for my business as for my life! Thanks for the opportunity to claim them again!
  • perspicacity!
  • aint language grand?!
  • That's "I tweeted" folks! no twisting involved!
  • I've been thinking about words ever since I ordered and read your book Style Statement -- I mean, I'm a writer, so I'm always thinking about words, but holding them up individually this way, like stones made ocean smooth, etched with runes I have to look at long and closely to decipher -- is new for me. And something of a revelation. You reminded me that words are magic.

    for 2010: love soul vision rising.

    can't wait.
  • ooo. goose bumps.
  • Jen
    those words do a wonderful dance together. what a year 'twill be!

    For me it's: nourishment and grounding - these two words have popped up a few times lately and rung the dinner bell. (oh geez, didn't even notice the beautiful pun in there. fantastically telling) I have visions of my feet on the earth, roots intertwining, toes wiggling in the sand, foundations, basics, soul feedings, life, enrichment, health, and growth.
  • My first two words for the new year will be what I uncover after I discover my style statement. After that, the door is thrown wide open!
  • hmmmm. i wish i knew more about my astrology; i think it would explain a lot.

    this year, i am choosing to live by my style statement: genuinely bold.
  • I love your poem. I usually pick one word and this year I keep hearing "work". As in this is my year to output work and to transfer my beliefs about work, but the word alone doesn't excite me. I think I'll try a mini-love poem for my year ;-)

    I have three planets in Virgo and my sun is Gemini ;-)

    Five planets in Virgo..... Intense.
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