Traveling with a Word for a Year: What's Yours for 2018?

Can You Guess My 2017 Word?

VISUAL IMAGE OF MY GUIDING WORD FOR 2017 (art by Hallelujah Truth)

Hallelujahs to all of us dear Sojourners! Do any of you feel the sense of time draining from the hour glass of 2017? I do! Seventeen more days until 2018!

Each year, as the new year approaches, I have a ritual. I like to choose a word that will inspire my choices and actions for the next 12 months. This ritual began as a prompt from community blogging challenges years ago. The blogging prompt would read something like this: 

By inviting a word to travel with you for a year -- and by going a step further and representing it visually -- I think that what you are really doing is giving yourself permission to explore something. It's a way of surrendering up to the universe something that you do not fully understand but intuitively know will yield something important and meaningful to you. It's a new lens through which to view your daily life, a private prayer, a fresh muscle to exercise, a secret reminder that there is so much more to you than meets the eye.

In this blog post today, I would to share my 2017 word with you. But I would like to offer it to you in "play" without revealing the exact word. The image at the top is the visual representation of my word for 2017. Just looking at it, what would you guess the word is?

SPEAKING HONORABLY. This close up is an image of me Hallelujah Truth. As you can witness, I created some intentions for myself!

Visually, I attempted to express a desire to speak honorably and to be trustworthy. My intentions also included about how I might "listen" to others and to myself.

Looking back on 2017 and how divided we all were here in the United States after the inauguration  of Donald Trump, my 2017 word also expressed a prayer for the exact opposite of division--I invited unity. I pledged to work for the sake of cohesion. I envisioned wholeness.

PLEDGING TO WORK FOR WHOLENESS.

This closeup (above) represents the Feminine, Mother, God. She is the "hearthstone" of my way of being. Her radiating star headdress offers strength, energy, and light. One hand is resting on her heart, filled with unconditional love. The other hand reaching out to us all offers connection and nurturance.

RENEWAL

My dear snake (on the left) promises continuity. There is hope in perpetual cycles. I fall down. I get back up. I fail at being honorable (does that ever happen to you?). I acknowledge my mistake, ask for forgiveness, and try to speak and act with decency and respect each next time. 

Have you guessed my word yet? Do any of my 2017 ambitions resonate with you? 

That's Coffee with Hallelujah! Soul Blog with me. I would like to know what word, idea, or image you are crafting to guide you in 2018. How will it make your life different from 2017?

I will be choosing my word for 2018 so stay tuned. 

Just remember that the world is waiting for you today! Something good is going to happen to you. Feel great! (words from Morris in the Morning, Clark Atlanta public radio)