“Don’t live the same year 75 times and call it a life.”
—Robin Sharma

Did your 2023 start slowly? Us too.

2023 can really begin now according to Chani Nicholas: Mars and Mercury are both doing their good and normal thing. So if you, like us, took your good sweet time in getting “back to work” this year, you are in great celestial company and it will probably serve you well.

Have you chosen your Word of the Year yet? No? Perfect.

How to choose your 2023 Word of the Year

Here’s how it’s done:

First, sit down in a peaceful and inspiring place for you - mine is my home office that I have finally finished decorating after being here for 2.5 years - in my haunted mansion in Louisville, Kentucky. Get a comforting beverage, set the lighting and music, get as cozy as you can, and spend some time with yourself journaling on these questions. You can answer every question or just choose the ones that strike a chord for you.

Step 1 ~ Journal Questions to Uncover Your Word of the Year

What could I use more of in my life?
What could I use less of in my life?
What characteristics would I like to have this year?
How do I want to feel at the end of each day?
What self-beliefs may have gotten me here, but will not get me any further in life and it is time to let go of?
What do I have more space or capacity for now?
What do I want to co-create this year (or farther in the future)

Once you have a good amount of writing down on the page, take a pause. I’d recommend having at least one page of solid journaling to have a good amount of source material. Maybe take Julia Cameron’s The Artist’s Way advice and do three full notebook pages. But anyway, now you have your innermost thoughts and ideas in black and white before you.

Step 2 ~ Review and Highlight

Look through what you’ve got on the page and ask yourself: “What word do I want to focus on in 2023?”

Highlight, underline or circle the specific words that jump out at you.

Step 3 ~ Hone in on Your Magic Word

When you’ve narrowed to 2-10 words, re-write them and ask yourself: “Am I interested in this word, or am I committed to this word? Choose the word you feel most committed to, not just interested in. That is your word for 2023!

Bonus ~ Boost your Word

Want to make your word even more powerful? Turn it into an acrostic poem and put it in a prominent place in your home or office. Are you a more visual person? Turn your word into a symbolic image or even a sygil so it can continue to ground, inspire, and guide you throughout the transformative and expansive year to come. Are you a social person? Share your word with the world! More private? Keep it secret like your own personal magic spell.

What is My Word of the Year?

SOLARPUNK

Read about solarpunk here if you aren’t already familiar. And the beginning of my acrostic about the word:

Sharing and savoring
Our optimistic
Love languages
Accessing alternative
Renaissance realities
Playfully participating
Understanding, united
New nuances of nature and nourishment,
Knowledge + kindness + kinship

There is no right or wrong way to use your Word of the Year. But there is a powerful way you will be able to celebrate the word again as 2023 comes to a close… Stay tuned for that exercise and join us for our free weekly poetry workshop for more thoughtful and generative writing experiments like this.

“Your present circumstances don’t determine where you can go. They merely determine where you start.”
—Nido Qubein

How to find your 2023 Word of the Year (and the reveal of our word for 2023)