A Word of the Year–Choose One of Your Own
Posted by lindamartinandersen on January 6, 2015
“A Word of the Year–Choose One of Your Own” by Linda Martin Andersen
Laura Purdie Salas is another great poet I know. Today, she shares one of her traditions for starting each new year. She chooses a word and “embraces” its meaning all year. See more here: http://www.laurasalas.com/blog/for-teachers/word-of-year-2015/
Parents, teachers, and kids: If you’re looking for poems and activities about poems, check out Laurie Purdie Salas’ collection called 30 Painless Classroom Poems on her webpage. I recently bought a book of poems and activities based on fairy tales called Fairy Tale Garage Sale: Poems of After Ever After. Check it out here: http://www.laurasalas.com/poetry/poetry%20books/30pcp_fairytale.html
I’d love to hear your comments. Thanks for visiting. Come again soon and bring a friend.
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A Writer's Playground 
Joan Y. Edwards said
Dear Linda,
It’s a great idea to choose a word to focus your life on for the year. Takes a lot of thought, but not much writing time. Thanks for sharing Laura’s blog.
Never Give Up
Joan
lindamartinandersen said
Joan,
I liked the idea and I’m glad you did too. Laura has a very nice blog, doesn’t she? Thanks for being a faithful friend and follower of my blog.
Carol Federlin Baldwin said
I’ve seen that–where people choose one word. I’ll have to tuck that idea in the back of my head and see what I come up with!
lindamartinandersen said
Carol,
It does require a little pondering–to choose a word that guides your year. I think you’ve got one tucked back there in that head. 😉 Thanks so much for commenting, faithful follower and friend!
Laura Purdie Salas said
Thanks for the shout-out, Linda–I appreciate it. Do you have a word for 2015?
lindamartinandersen said
My choice is “gratitude!” Thanks for asking. You are very welcome for the shout-out.
Laura Purdie Salas said
That is a wonderful choice. Part of my choice of embrace is remembering to be grateful even for my less favorite parts of my career, like marketing. I only have to market because I’m lucky enough to have books published. So I’m trying to embrace all the crucial parts of that. Gratitude is a terrific keystone for a year!
Janis Silverman said
I looked at Laura’s writings and plan to buy a few of her books. I love the poems I read on the website. Nature is a great way to pull kids’ attention and interest. These poems help explain big concepts in our world..WONDERFUL!
I LOVE the word”EMBRACE!” I am contemplating on my word for the year now.
I like the word “DREAM.” When you dream, you open your soul and your heart to POSSIBILITY!!!
Thank you for this post, Linda.
Best wishes to Laura.
lindamartinandersen said
Janis,
I’m so glad you enjoyed Laura’s book selection and plan to buy a few of her titles. I agree that they’re special. I love getting her poems in my inbox everyday.
You are very welcome for the post, Janis. I appreciate your friendship and your following of my blog.
“Dream” and “possibility” are great choices. Maybe you’ll even think of something you like better. Good to have a focus. Keep writing. Your work is important too!
Laura Purdie Salas said
Thanks, Janis:>) Happy New Year to you!
lindamartinandersen said
Janis,
Thanks for the nice comment about my keystone word choice. I have chosen “gratitude” for my personal life and for my writing life. I really appreciate your taking time to respond here!
lindamartinandersen said
Laura,
Thanks for the nice comment about my keystone word choice. I have chosen “gratitude” for my personal life and for my writing life. I really appreciate your taking time to respond here!
Vijaya said
Love Laura’s work … I’ve been doing this for a couple of years. This year it’s Clarity.
lindamartinandersen said
I love her work too, Vijaya. Thanks so much for visiting and for commenting. “Clarity” is a good word choice. Thanks for sharing.
Dolores said
My word–“Perseverance!” Such a great way word–especially in my writing and publishing life!
lindamartinandersen said
Delores,
I apologize that it took me SO long to discover your comment. It was in the pending folder. Not sure why. Thank you and I hope your perseverance is paying off.
sarahsbookreflections said
I’ve been thinking about Laura and your word choices for this year and have finally come up with one for myself. Iris Dement, a singer/song writer, has a song entitled “What’s Wrong with Peace, Love and Understanding?” In my own naive way, I think that if we tried to understand each other’s philosophy and culture, we might be reduce all the violence and hatred that plagues our planet. So my word for the year is Understanding.
As usual, Linda, your blog is thought provoking. Thanks, Sarah
lindamartinandersen said
Sarah,
I’m so glad you shared your word choice with us. “Understanding” is a terrific word to live by in 2015. Thanks for commenting and for being a faithful follower and friend. I’m glad you took the challenge and found just the right word for you. It’s good to keep those brain cells active.
lauraboffa said
I have a tradition of making fun New Year’s resolutions, like learning to play the trumpet or trying a number of new recipes, to motivate me to actually keep them. But this year I realized that I would probably do those fun things anyway, and I needed a more meaningful resolution! I would say the resolution I made myself can be captured with the word Connection. Thanks for helping me consolidate it so that I can easily keep it in mind all year!
lindamartinandersen said
Laura,
It’s wonderful to hear from you. I think creating fun resolutions is a great idea. Please continue to do them, as well as one that’s especially meaningful. Great combination. I’m glad that choosing a word for the year will remind you of your new goal. Good luck with all you have chosen to accomplish. Thanks for visiting and please come again soon.
Jennifer larson said
I like your word idea- gonna chew on it and come up with my word! And what a cute title- Fairy Tale Garage Sales- After Ever After! The title alone has me hooked. Look forward to checking it out. Thanks for sharing.
lindamartinandersen said
Jennifer,
I’m glad you like the idea of word for the year. I bought the fairy tale book as a resource. It’s an e-book. You are welcome for the post. Thanks for visiting “A Writer’s Playground” and for commenting. I treasure our budding friendship too.
Tracy Campbell said
Hi Linda, my word is the “year of no fear” 🙂
lindamartinandersen said
Tracy,
I like it. Thanks for sharing. Will you post it somewhere as a reminder?
Tracy Campbell said
I did this morning on my Author FB page. Thanks for the encouragement. 🙂
lindamartinandersen said
Tracy,
I love that you posted your “word of the year” on your Author FB page. Clever girl! Great idea! I was thinking the refrigerator, desk, etc. My brain doesn’t always think up-to-date ways. 🙂
Tracy Campbell said
Now you tell me after I post. LOL
lindamartinandersen said
Laughing with you!