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Hello 2015: One word

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Hello 2015 : one word

And so the page turns on a new chapter for us all. Don’t you love that collective rush of energy and hope that the turn of the year brings? I make it a rule to thoughtfully leave the old year behind, smooth a fresh page ready to fill with dreams that have every opportunity of coming true, regardless of past performance.

There’s a brand, shiny new chance for all of us and it starts today. Right now.

So, each year for the past four years here on Maxabella Loves we’ve all met up to share our ‘word’ for the year ahead. In 2014 my word was ‘pause’ and that was a big success for me. ‘Pause’ is the kind of word that gave me the space to make many small changes that have enriched my life enormously. I will take much away from my little pauses.

This year I found it very hard to settle on a new word because apart from the pauses in 2014, it wasn’t an especially cheery year for me. It wasn’t awful, but it felt shaky and for a while there in November I really lost my sparkle. Luckily it was a temporary glitch and I ended the year feeling wholeheartedly complete and grateful. Gratitude always gets me there in the end.

I’ve been a terrible procrastinator this year as well, so in the end my 2015 word did find me, without fuss or bother. My word for the year ahead is:

Complete.

Which means finishing what I start. Learning to be happy with what I have. Fixing the bits of me that feel broken. Loving fully and utterly. Feeling my circle of family and friends surround me. Complete.

So here we are, with a new chance at a new year. Happy new chance to you!

What word will help you spend this new chance wisely?

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Comments

  1. Happy New Year, Bron! It’s still only 11pm here in Qld, but I’m celebrating anyway.
    I love that you’re thinking about the beautiful circle of family and friends that surround you. May they only get more huggy in 2015.
    Have a glorious year, my lovely friend xx

  3. Love your word and how you explained its meaning for you. Happy new year beautiful. Hope to see you in 2015 sometime. Much love- deb xx

  4. Happy New Year! I love your explanation for why you have chosen complete, acknowledging what we already have and what we need to work on is so important. I hope 2015 is a beautiful year for you xx

  7. How great is the start of the new year? I love it! Happy shiny newness to you Bron!

    My word for last year was BALANCE. I don’t think I achieved it. Pretty hard when I spent most of it solo parenting four kids but I’m ok with it. I ended the the year feeling more balanced than when I started so that’s something right?

    I don’t have a word for this year. Nothing jumps out at me. Can it be sleep? I just really need more sleep.

    • Sleep would be my ideal guiding word, but alas I know it’s too difficult to achieve!! Ending the year closer to where you want to be is what it’s all about, isn’t it? Go for ‘balance’ again, I reckon. x

  8. Complete – a great intention to aspire to! I hope you end 2015 feeling like you achieved this goal, and more! Happy New Year

  11. Happy New Year, Bron, and great word for 2015! My word for this year is ‘enough’ – will link an explanation about why soon. Have a great Day 1!

  12. Complete is a great word – you have so many good ideas, I can see how completing so much must be challenging. I am going with ‘breathe’ this year – I feel I need to inject more calm into everything I do – if I really breathe then it can help me take on new things, get through challenging things and encourage me to pause and reflect. I especially want to breathe first and react second around the kids. Happy New Year.

  13. At midnight I announced that my 2015 would be all about – even – but now I’m not 100%.
    I also have this burning desire to knit a really complicated – fisherman’s sweater – so for now I might stick with that.
    I hope your 2015 is exactly what you’ve been waiting for.
    xxx

  15. I’m going with SURRENDER this year. Not in terms of inaction but to stop struggling against the universe and work with it. I’m going to surrender my resistance and embrace the great big changes coming my way this year.

  16. I have enjoyed following your blog this year and really liked your 10 questions for reflecting on the year gone by. As a fellow procrastinator, complete, is a great word for the new year. I am getting better at just doing more and less thinking about it. Happy New Year.

    • Our motto at home has always been “just do it, and it’s done”, but we’ve been really remiss in following it lately. Hopefully this will get me back on track. I hope the year ahead is a fine one for you! x

    • If I can manage to really make my year complete how I wanna, that will be a big success for me. Happy new year, Fleur! I hope it shines for you in every way. x

  20. Happy New Year Bron. Thanks for this idea. I “knew” it was something I had done before and I think failed to follow through. In fact I cant even remember the word. The idea that the word chooses us resonates and I found that notion first from Kelly Magnetoboldtoo. 2014 has been what I now call a WATERSHED year. I started doing work again at Uni, over committing, minding a baby granddaughter and her pre school aged sister 3 days a week and I fell down. Not really down but my body (thanks IBS and a dose of pancreatitis) told me I wasnt liking life as it was. In fact I was pleasing everyone (I thought) but me…I wont go on with the long story but by mid year, we had decided on some major life changes, which brought their own sets of stressors (still got that IBS!) and I came to realised that so much of the pressure I feel is placed by me, on me. Acceptance – my word – is to remind me about what I can change, what I cant and what I need to do to remain more focussed on the now. Oh, and suddenly I want to write and blog again..and art too! Back on deck at denysewhelan.com.au and intending to post daily! Thanks for all your encouragement over the years too! Denyse xx

    • It’s a bit too easy to lose touch when our friendly bloggers don’t blog, Denyse. I’m sorry to hear you had a troubled time of it this year. It never ends, does it? We just keep heaping more and more on top of our already-over-burdened selves… why do we not see the falls coming?

      I just hope you accept and move towards a more wholistic lifestyle this year. More Denyse-focused! x

  22. I had foegotten your word last year Bron but as an outsider I can sense the change it’s made in you. I love your explanation behind this year’s word too. I was reading something the day before yesterday that gave me one of this rare, “ping” feelings in my heart and head and the crux of it was a feeling of worth. So my word this year is, “worthy”. That I should sort out what is and isn’t worthy in terms of my focus (& who!) and also to be kinder to myself in that I am actually worthy. Last year wasn’t my best. I’ve been in a state of limbo and am now looking for my new path though it be covered in bramble, debris and who knows what else. I want the word to have an Eco tinge too. Is what I’m spending my dosh on worthy. Is it part of what will help contribute to our lives or is it just extraneous crapola? So much to think about.

    Wishing you a truly wondrous year!

    • “Worthy” is a very interesting, gutsy choice, Cat. I like how wholistic you’ve made it (is it wholistic or holistic? Never mind!). It does seem like we both threaded water a little too much in 2014 and need to really dig in and start swimming hard this year. I hope we both get there. Happy new year to you. x

  23. Hi Bron, I love your word ‘complete’ and all that it will encompass for you. I’m almost decided on my word, just haven’t got around to blogging it yet. I will tonight.
    Looking forward to sharing 2015 with you Bron. xx

    • Indeed, Jodi. You know, It’s really quite remarkable how long some of our online relationships are starting to go back. I was just thinking that yesterday when I was reading some of the ‘reflective’ posts answering my 10 questions. I realised I knew some of those characters so well that I could tell when they were not ring true to themselves in their answers!

      Not you. Of course, I’m merely rambling away about this to you because we go way back these days. But do you think it could be true? Do you think we can all read between each other’s lines these days? c

      • Interesting point Bron. I think though, people do of course change and sometimes some (many?) aren’t entirely honest with what they put out there. I think many like to see their online presence as they type of person they want to be or want to aspire to be. Which isn’t always a bad thing.
        I know with myself both my attitude and direction have shifted since I first started blogging. For me it has been a journey (hate that word) of self-discovery and finding my true self. Which all sounds rather ‘wanky’ but is very true. I guess what I’m trying to say is that everyone is at different stages of the journey and perhaps this could explain a few discrepancies in people’s answers.
        And of course there are those who are so different online than offline that you don’t really know who they are! That’s both the beauty and the beast of the online arena!
        xx

        • Hmmmm… I meant it more from an ‘affectionate friend’ kind of perspective. You know when you’re having coffee with a bud and she’s rattling off her list of all the things she wants to change and you both know that a good half of that list has been hanging around for a decade and is likely going to be there for at least another? But you both pretend that THIS is the year because you love her and pretending makes us feel better and you’re both sort of hoping that wishing will make it so anyway. That kind of thing. I think what I’m saying is that that kind of friendship ca happen online without us realising it. It sneaks up on us and isn’t really acknowledged like it would be IRL. x

          • Ha! I was off on a totally different tangent wasn’t I? I see what you are saying now and that’s very much like IRL. I do wish the best for everyone. One of my favourite things about blogging is seeing other people succeed. Yes, sometimes you know they are reaching high, but I love a big dream. As long as there are little ones along the way. I think that’s why your ‘one word’ is so popular. It allows people to focus and aim high and with the support and friendship of those online it makes it all more attainable. I’d personally love to hug so many bloggers and tell them how awesome they are for moving forward and dreaming big. That’s friendship like IRL. It fills you with a fuzzy warmth. 🙂

  24. Oh Bron, I’ve never done the ‘one word’ before and, listening as my family went around the table today, announcing resolutions they will never keep, I decided there and then to join you. Reading this post, I got excited about blogging again, and will link up soon. Wishing you a wonderful year ahead! Complete. Now that is a word I could use too! But I’ve settled on another one.

  25. Mine is ‘settle’ – thanks for the inspiration for both the 10 questions in review and the word for the year ahead. Both made me sit and genuinely think back over the year and what that means for the year ahead.

    Complete is a good one! I feel like in 2015, more than ever – people just want their people around them, to enjoy and appreciate the good things and be at peace with their lives. I like this trend very much.

    • 1000x yes, a good trend indeed! “Settle” is a neat choice as it has such warm connotations. It has “enough” and “calm” and “roots” kinda woven up in it for me. Enjoy the year ahead, Emma. x

  27. Love this idea and your word from 2014 and for 2015. I’m jumping on the bandwagon and have added a post to the link-up – which is the first I’ve ever participated in, so if I’ve messed up or forgotten something please lemme know!

    x
    A

  28. Love that idea of leaving the old year behind. All we can do is look ahead. Complete is a really great word to choose I hope it will be the drive for you to feel fulfilled and complete the stuff you really want to. Thanks for the link up !

    • Thanks Druime, I just really want to get stuff done this year. As I’ve gotten older it’s become way too easy to not bother so much (which is a blessing, really, but I’m not quite ready!). Happy new year to you. x

    • ‘Health’ should really be everyone’s word, Bec. We all take it for granted, but without it we can’t really be ‘me’. Have a great year, lovely. x

  32. Happy New Year!

    I really like complete.
    I read somewhere that 2014 was a masculine year and 2015 is a feminine year…so last year was all about output and drive and probably felt a bit harsh creatively and this year is more about balance and nurturing and seeking out love.
    I feel like complete makes so much sense within that context too.

    • Last year definitely felt masculine, how strange but true. Let’s hope we get that feminine vibe happening in 2015! Of course, what other kind of vibe could you possibly be having at your place? I just hope it’s all going well for you, Caitin. I know the same isn’t true for you, but as someone who was always rather terrified of newborns, I can’t help but want to endlessly reassure and deeply commiserate with anyone who has one! Happy new year, lovely lady. x

      • This newborn is…dare I say it…easy?
        I did not love the newborn phase the first time around…I was too unsure, there seemed to much to figure out, and I generally spent too much time worrying and trying to decode my baby.
        This time I am just getting on with life…albeit in a very slow manner…and so far Lyddie seems very content to come along for the ride!
        Fingers crossed things continue in this manner!

        • Fingers AND toes and do not say “easy” out loud again or the newborn fairies will jinx you!! (But let’s hope they don’t). x

  33. Thanks for stopping by my blog Bron. I love your word Complete! I have so many things on the go at the same time, that I often have to remind myself to Complete. My word is Embrace. Hope you fulfil your completeness!

  34. Love your new space. It’s fresh and new, just like the new year! Mine is SLEEP. I think that more of it changes life entirely! I’m off to check out what I’ve missed. I didn’t recall anything that happened in November, so off to take a read. I have a feeling that 2015 will be an amazing year for you! xxx

    • If I could make sleep my word every year I would! Of course, I blame the kids entirely, but really it’s me. My (cough) “sleep hygeine” is pathetic. And the word hygiene makes me weirdly squeamish and who can sleep in that condition? Anyway… show me the way, Kymmie! And have a bloody awesome (not to mention well-rested) year while you’re at it! x

  35. I really love your take on the word Complete and how you wish to evoke it in your life this year Bron. I hope your year is truly wonderful.

  36. Love your word. And love that you have a word. I’m yet to pick just one, but ‘steady’ is standing out to me so far. Slow and steady wins the race. And it has a fitness relevance too, which is a big goal of mine this year. Yep, I’m talking myself into it! x

    • (Oh, and when I saw this post title I pictured Lionel Richie with those hideous 2015 sunglasses on singing, “Hello! Is it me you’re looking for?” I don’t know why I’m sharing that. It makes me sound weird. Oh well.)

      • Oh no, not weird. That’s exactly the tune going around and around and around in my head. Which is so not a good start to the year…

        Steady would be grand. Some years just need to be centred and contained in such a manner. I felt that way last year, which is why I hit pause. Did me the world of good. x

  37. Love your word Bron. I’ve been thinking about mine and I finally found it today so will blog about it this weekend. X looking forward to reading your space this year and seeing how you go about living with your word. Xx

  38. I have updated one of my posts to fit in with your Word – Link up and added the questions you shared! 🙂 What a great idea Bron! I look forward to following you this year – you have some amazing posts & blog! I know I am going to learn a lot from you (I already have)!

  39. Completion can mean different things. Sometimes we’re complete when we’ve learned what we needed to learn from an experience and it’s ok to let it go. Sometimes we’re complete when we’ve tried something and found that it’s not for us. Best of luck with it. Happy New Year!

    • Sage words, dear Tat. Indeed I will be wise to keep ‘complete’ in perspective (I do have a tendency to go overboard, as we know!). Ill be over to read your post in the morning. x

  41. Complete is such a lovely, round word. Mine would be family I think, because I will be allowed to see my family for the first time afterall and because Luke and I want to make loads of babies 🙂

    • “Loads” sounds interesting, Holly. I picture a truck dumping an enormous load of squealing newborns on your front lawn… nightmare stuff! But one, to begin with, will be so, so nice. I hope 2015 is it! x

  42. What a great word! I could certainly remember that one as well! I’m sharing mine on Monday so will be back to link it up then!!

    • Hi Zita, I couldn’t work out how to comment on your blog (I struggle with blogger on some computers) so thought I would here and hopefully you’ll see it (thanks Bron for sharing your comments link!) I was going to say ‘snap!’ – and glad to see someone else is embracing the idea of ‘enough’ for this year. Hopefully it will work out well for both of us!

  44. Hi
    I hope it is ok I shared my phrase for the year here.
    I can’t wait to read the other linkers and get some inspiration.

  45. I love this idea Bron! I love your posts! I’ve been thinking a lot about what this ‘New Chance’ New Year means to me and I’ve come up with zilch until today…

    At first I thought the only word it could be was ‘LIVE’… but I’ve decided it needs to be a phrase.

    “Live with Meaning”.

    Thank you for this space that has encouraged me to start wondering and be curious about thoughts and writing again. I’ve been a little dis-engaged from living and connecting… now I feel a shift coming on… and a blog post!

    Happy New Year Chance to you Xx Sandra

    • That’s really made my day, Sandra. I struggle a lot with ‘direction’ for this blog – I have no idea about the whys and whats – but your comment means the world. Cheers to a very meaningful year, lived wholely and thoughtfully. x

  46. Happy New Year Bron! I love your word and for what it stands for. I am terrible at starting things and never getting around to finishing them. I have been leaning towards “Focus” for my word. Whenever I think about a word it keeps popping up in my mind, and covers so much. Focus on my health, my energy, my thoughts, my creativity. 🙂

  47. Complete is absolutely beautiful Bron.
    I think my word is ME, this year is about actually embracing putting my needs first instead of always rushing into the caregiver role.
    Learning to be selfish in the right way.

    • A very good word, Kate. I made lasting changes in my everyday life in 2013 when “simple” was my word. I have felt less cluttered in mind, body and home ever since. That’s the great thing about the one word approach – each word becomes part of how we do things for years and years (maybe even forever!). x

  49. Thanks for the link up Bron! I included my ‘word’ in a post of quizzes (your’s is in there!). My word is a new one for me, so I learnt a new word and got my 2015 ‘word’ too – Lambent (shining or glowing softly).

  50. Thank you for inspiring me to choose and blog about a word of my own for 2015! I have chosen Breathe. It will be a year of adjusting to being at SAHM to two kids under two, and I will need to remember to stop and breathe!

    • I left a long and involved reply on your blog, Coutney. Needless to say, I’m here if ever you need to chat about breathing techniques! x

  51. I really love this idea. I’ve never thought to choose a word for the year but I feel an overwhelming urge to do so this year, given the write-off 2014 was for me. My word for 2015 is DO. And I’ve linked my post about it. I have this need to make up for lost time. I have so much to do and I’m determined to actually do rather than procrastinate or think about it. Thanks for this great prompt. Love it!

  53. Complete sounds like a fantastic word for you, (and the rest of us!) I will be following along to see what 2015 brings for you Bron. Happy New Year. xx

  55. I love your word Bron… and it is something I need to control a little better… my procrastination that is. Here’s to all of our words we have chosen for this year, and here’s to those words leading us to success in whatever it is we hope for. xx

  56. Oh I do love this, Bron. I love the word you’ve chosen and the meaning(s) behind it. I’ve never really chosen a word for my year, however last year felt like a “building” year. This year? I’m not sure. I feel like this is the year for me edge closer to where I want to be. Actually, scratch that. I want this year to be the year I arrive where I want to be. Now, to think of the perfect word…

  60. Happy New Year Bron! I’ve only just become aware of your linky to share ‘our word’ so I am thrilled to link up! I love your word of ‘complete’ and the reasoning behind you choosing it. I do hope you find your sparkle again in 2015 and that it is a wonderful year for you. Min xo

  61. Happy New Year Bron!Thanks for hosting the linky again. My word is very much aligned to yours – it’s focus as I am too often distracted so that I will complete the things I want to accomplish this year. x

  63. I thought this was going to say that your word for this year is hello. Complete is wonderful! It sounds hard, too. My word is surrender.

  64. Oh Bron what a great word! It feels so full of promise and open to so much love. Wishing you a very happy new year. And may 2015 be one of love, joy and completion. Much love and light, Sophie x

  66. I agree that ‘complete’ is a perfect word for the year. It’s interesting how so many words have so many meanings when you apply them to how you want to live. I have loved being part of your One Word experience Bron. Thank you!!

  67. I completely love this idea and your word too!

    Never stop making wishes…

    That’s my phrase for this year, I want a new adventure for our little family and less ground hog days where we forget how lucky we are.

    My word this year is… adventure

    • I reckon you are onto a winner. Luckily, adventure is surprising easy to find when you have kids. You can turn pretty much any ordinary day into a wonderland just using the power of their imaginations. It’s rather magical.

      Cheers to a wonderful year ahead. I’m so glad I met you last year, Sarah. x

  69. I just added my post thinking it was weekend rewind and then went to delete it when I ACTUALLY read your post (I am a moron) but you don’t have the little delete button) Can you please delete mine – I’m in the wrong place!! I think that means my word is idiot….

  70. Wishing you a fabulous 2015 Bron
    I haven’t chosen a word this year….haven’t felt it yet…maybe patience is it!!

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  8. […] Oh, I don’t do resolutions. This year, inspired by Bron from Maxabella Loves, I am choosing a guiding word. […]

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