How My Word of The Year Appeared | #WOTY 2023

Sometime during the end of 2022, when I hadn’t even thought about my word of the year for 2023, I was aware that I was on the path to healing and transformation —which entailed questioning some of the most basic assumptions I had on life, relationships, connections and so on. Naturally, there was a very essential component in that process—which included unlearning from the past. This was a relatively recent realisation and I knew, instinctively, how the small changes that I had been working on, were emerging to be the catalysts towards this one thing.

Throughout the month of January, while I came across some of the most wonderful and thought-provoking posts on the word of the year (WOTY) from many of my friends in the blogging community, I felt I ought to share mine too.

It’s funny though, that while I knew what philosophy I had chosen to live by, I hadn’t really coined a term to express it. There were big and small things that I wanted to follow, changes that I had been looking to implement and I could see the many elements that I intended, to apply into my everyday living. And, yet, the word eluded me, I waited for it to appear. It didn’t.

And then, as if by chance, one night, as I sat in meditation just before going to bed, I finally found how everything seemed to fall in place and the word that appeared before me was this:

For some time, this is what my soul has been seeking in almost everything that I’ve been engaged in. Meditation has been a daily ritual for me since the past few years, and it has made me aware of everything that has a bearing on my thoughts, intentions, purposes, values and goals. This has probably been instrumental in leading me up to the point where I’m able to consider conscious living as a way of life.

You may ask—did I not live consciously earlier? Of course, I did. The truth is, I was not consistent. It didn’t work for me always. It was not done with intent and not always followed up by appropriate action.

As I write about my intention behind this thought of living consciously, I remind myself that it is going to be the philosophy behind every decision that I choose to take or not take. To me, it’s more like a journey, that will guide me forward.

Will I succeed every single time? Truth be told—maybe not.

But, will that deter me? No.

January brought me plenty to reflect upon—especially with regard to things that I really need to include in my life right now and things I could do without. Barely a week is left for February to pass as well. I’ve been waiting for this moment for more than a month now. The journal has been the repository of many a pondering and has been instrumental in leading me up the choice—the choice to live consciously.

Living a conscious life means that I do exactly what I want, and be able to experience my truth in that moment—especially, what that really means to me. This is going to be an operational challenge in many ways, if you know what I mean, because whenever we deal with other people, be it personally and professionally, standing one’s ground and going with one’s beliefs might not be easy. I’m eager to see where this leads.

And whilst I do that, I’m also reminding myself to trust in the process of life. To embrace the moment, with total awareness—even when life does not go as planned and we realise that everything in this world is in a state of flux. Nothing is constant. Nothing stays. Impermanence rules!

Living with intention sparks curiosity and learning, leading to growth. As a lifelong learner, I’ve always been keen to know more, to explore the unknown and experiment with new things and see where that takes me.

There’s nothing to prove to oneself or to the world—I must live the best and the most authentic version of myself! This means there will be plenty of inner conflict and suffering going on whilst I show up, with courage and honesty to be myself, just as I am.

I hope my conscious life leads me to greater awareness of my capabilities. potentials and limitations—all of which I intend to follow in the coming days. But, I’m also positive that conscious living will also bring me to question the multitudes of things that I continued to accept so far, even when they never made any sense.

Sometimes, we need to clean the lens through which we see our lives. To get a grip on all those things that truly matter. Like who we are, and what we stand for, our purpose, relationships and connections and everything in between.

How far I succeed in this—well, time alone will tell.

The journey of a thousand miles has only just begun.