Every one has different goals for the new year. Whether it is diet or exercise or smoking related, January is the time to try to make a fresh start, to drop your bad habits, to shake off the demons that haunt you. This year, I decided to join my Artist friends and choose a word for the year. I chose mine based on my New Year’s resolution- BE. It is a small word, but oh so powerful! It can be part of bigger words like Believe or Become. It can play a part in lyrics or famous quotes like “Let It Be” Or “To Be or Not To Be”.
For me, I need this word as a reminder- to be part of the present. I am a do-er. I am not satisfied unless I am busy. I am constantly late, because I try to get as many things done as I possibly can. The only time I am not maniacally trying to cram my minutes full of tasks, is when I am experimenting with my Art. I have very few minutes to do that however, and so much of my day is spent doing, or planning to do. Not surprisingly, I run rather than practice Yoga. Even my son has noticed my tendencies, and so instead of coming home and asking how my day was, he asks-“Did you get a lot done?”. Pretty telling.
Over vacation, my son asked me to watch a movie with him. At 13, he is straddling right on the edge of childhood and adulthood, but since it was the Holidays, his feet were firmly planted in the childhood zone. I have to admit, I really didn’t want to sit down in the middle of the day to watch a movie, but since it was vacation, and there was noone around to do it with him, I felt like I should. However, instead of sitting and actually WATCHING the movie, I multi-tasked. I tried to steam some veggies, and I turned to my laptop to get caught up with my Artist friends on Facebook. My son noticed and kept pausing when the movie got to the important scenes, so that I wouldn’t miss anything. Finally he asked if I was almost done with my computer work. Feeling like an awful Mom for not enjoying the moment, I finally logged off, so I could pay attention. That lasted all of 10 seconds, because it was then that I realized the horrible smell emanating from the kitchen. It was of course what was left of the steaming vegetables, and a very ruined pan! And yet again, my son patiently paused the movie. At that moment, it came to me that I really needed to BE in the moment. I wanted to scrub that pan, but I left it to soak, made some Peppermint Hot Cocoa, turned on the fire and then sat and watched that entire movie with him, from start to finish, without another pause. It was a wonderful afternoon, and I realized how few I probably will have left with him, as he moves into the next stage of his life.
And so, my word for this year is Be. I BElieve, that I can BEcome a Be-er, instead of a Do-er. I resolve to BE in the Moment. Maybe I will even try Yoga 
I am not alone in choosing a Word for the Year. Please, follow along in our second Blog Hop to visit some of my Artist friends, and see what they have chosen and why. And then, maybe you want to join us? What would your word BE?
