Don't Let Another Year Just Happen to You
There's a feeling that arrives every autumn. The evenings draw in, the year begins to close, and somewhere inside a question appears: where did this year go? And close behind it, another one: what would I like next year to feel like?
Maybe you'd love a calmer year. A braver one. A year that feels more like your own. Most of us want that. And if we're honest, most of us have wanted it before.
How a year slips away
You know how it goes. October turns into November. We tell ourselves we'll think about it after Christmas, then in the new year, then when things calm down. And somehow they never quite do.
Then the first of January arrives all at once. We make a resolution in a hurry, or pick a word that sounds lovely, and by February it has quietly slipped away. All that's left is a familiar feeling: another year has just happened to us.
It isn't that we don't care. It's that the things that matter most to us, the quiet, inner things, are always the easiest to put off. There's always something more urgent: the family, the work, everyone else's plans. And so, once again, we come last.
I don't believe it has to be that way. Your year deserves more than simply happening to you.
The decision comes before the word
If you'd like to choose a word for your year, one word that holds how you want to feel and who you want to become, here's something I've learned from doing it for around seven years: the word comes later. What comes first is a decision.
A simple, quiet yes. This year, I'm going to give myself the time to find my word properly, and then I'm going to live with it.
That decision is what makes the difference. A word chosen in a rush on New Year's Day is a wish. A word you've made room for, and chosen slowly with time set aside, is a commitment. And a gentle commitment has a way of carrying you through a whole year.
So this isn't the moment to choose your word. That deserves the quiet of December, as the old year closes. This is the moment to decide that this time, you're really going to do it. I wasn't sure either
The first time I tried, I had my doubts. My best friend chooses a word for every year, and when she asked me to try, I sat down feeling impatient. I wanted it done, and part of me thought the whole thing was a bit pointless.
And right in the middle of that impatience, I saw it. My word was patience. Not a pretty word, and not one I would have picked from a list, but the one I needed. That year I learned to bake sourdough, gave my closest relationships more time, took up slow stitching and even organised my drawers with patience.
I've chosen a word every year since, and not one of them has let me down. Along the way I've found simple ways to keep a word alive all year: the colours I surround myself with, a scent that brings me straight back to it, small things I make and keep close.
A simple plan for your year
1. Make the decision now. Say yes to yourself while there's still some space, before December fills up with everything else.
2. In December, find your word slowly. As the year closes, give yourself time to listen. The right word is rarely the loveliest one. It's the one that meets you where you are.
3. From January, give your word somewhere to live. Colours, symbols, small rituals and simple making, so it stays beside you on a busy Tuesday in March, not just on the first of January.
Imagine next December
Imagine sitting down at the end of next year with a cup of tea, and looking back. Not at a list of resolutions you didn't keep, but at a year with a thread running through it. Moments when your word helped you choose. Days when it brought you back to yourself. A year that was truly yours.
That's the year I'd love you to have.
Your first step
This is exactly why I made One Word. It's a self-paced course that walks you through each step of that plan. The first half opens on 1 December, with everything you need to find your word, its colours and its symbols. The second half opens on 1 January, with ways to bring your word to life and keep it close. You don't need any art experience, and you don't need to know anything about choosing a word before you begin.
Join now, and on 1 December everything will be waiting for you.
Not quite ready to decide? You can begin by closing this year gently. My free Close the Year printable is a quiet ritual for one evening, with six gentle questions, a word for the year that's ending, and a small slip for letting something go.
Whatever you decide, I hope next year feels like yours.
Lots of love, Kasia
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