As someone who loves thinking about human formation and intentionally cultivating the on-going process of growth, I am naturally drawn to considering which practices make a meaningful impact vs. trends that fade over time.

By and far, one of the most impactful practices throughout the last 15 years of my life has been choosing a word for the year. It caught me by surprise because it seemed so simple. When I began based on encouragement from teachers who shared about their words and the practice on their blogs, I never would have imagined how much it would become engrained as a meaningful mechanism to reflect, consider implications, and document my process of becoming.

Yet, so it has. Even just reading through the list of my words from 2010 to the present, gives me an instant glimpse into who I was and who I am becoming from the end of my 20s, throughout my 30s and into my 40s. It is a common thread that has impacted an on-going process of growth and healing spanning across the years. It shows glimpses into what I valued, what I thought I needed, and how on-going learning has shaped the process over time to affirm some thinking and redirect other assumptions.

Nonetheless, choosing a word in and of itself does not automatically translate into the practice becoming a powerful mechanism to support development. (Ask me how I know!) Since beginning the practice, two factors have predominantly increased the impact for me:

1. Intentional Documentation: After two years of the process, I joined a course to provide support for intentional documentation on a regular basis. It made all the difference. It both reminded me of my word and helped me to capture my thinking along the way. Having on-going prompts increased my awareness of how my word was showing up in every day life and the documentation helped me to remember over time. Documenting the graces in our every day lives over time helps us to be able to revisit those graces--gifts in the moment and gifts in the future when we remember and sometimes understand on a deeper level.

2. Aligning with the Liturgical Year: Though traditionally begun in January, eventually I shifted the practice to start with Advent. It was a time in my life where I had been thinking more about how multiple calendars shape my days (the calendar year, the academic year, and the liturgical year). I naturally reflect according to those frames for different reasons. I realized that when it comes to practices that get at the core of my growth, I wanted them to be framed around the liturgical season, relying on the wisdom of the Church. It reminded me of what my spiritual director at the time said, "Wrap yourself in Catholic culture."

Pairing intentional documentation in alignment to the liturgical year has increased the fruitfulness of the practice. When I made the pivot to mapping the practice to the liturgical year, I needed to create my own system of documentation as the previous course that supported my process no longer fit. I experimented with different modifications over time. Some years have even unfolded without an intentional system as I didn't quite figure out how I wanted to document in that season, which ultimately reaffirming the importance of having something in place.

This year I have created a simple system to guide my process for the upcoming liturgical year. It is intentional yet simple in order to be sustainable amidst the demands of a full life.

Whether you are new to the practice of choosing a word or whether you are intrigued by having the liturgical year shape the process, I would love to have you join me on the journey.

Learn More about the Guide

If you enjoyed this post, I invite you to sign up for my email list.