I've decided that may become the title of my (nonexistent) autobiography.
Something about the juxtaposition of the two is very "me". My brother and I recently had a conversation about how we are both very intense and also pretty chill, my sister and I often identify as "velvet steel".
In this world you will have trouble (be tough as nails) but take heart, I have overcome the world (stay tender; be a soft place to land).
I like how "hygge" in itself has a both/and to it. Rest without laziness. Comfort without apathy. Indulgence without excess. Its an enveloping warmth that comes with movement and connection, with solitude and rest. A light that doesn't forget the darkness.
I thought at first of having it be my word of the year. Because so many of the more active words people employ to inspire their year just made me tired, to be honest. As much as I have accomplished and loved this year, I am weary. And in order to motivate me and lift me up daily, my mantra cannot be one of constant reaching, ambitious challenges, or demands.
I liked that hygge was a grounding word, about staying in the present moment. About real, often tactile ways of expressing hope and light, comfort and connection. It is a word born in cold climates (and oh boy I live in one). In a rush-hungry, virtual-visit world, I liked its reminder to be present.
But it wasn't quite right. As much as it spoke to me (and as much as I loved the thought of all the books and games about hygge I would have an excuse to buy) it lacked an upward lift that I knew would be necessary to carry me through the year ahead. I am no expert on hygge, so you are welcome to argue that it is either more or less than I have described, but as my word pertains to my own life, it can only help me as much as its meaning has molded into the heart of me.
I chose instead, a word that could span both Hygge and Badassery.
That spoke directly to my need to be both challenged and held.
For structure and freedom; pursuing my dreams and appreciating the here and now.
Loving my independence, and searching for a soulmate; moving and resting; reaching and waiting.
Growing and enough. Faithful and questioning. Grounded and dreaming.
I chose a word that many have chosen before me, and for that very reason I had dismissed earlier. It was, in a way, too obvious; too common. But when I thought about all the truths that could be hidden inside it... I decided to make its magic come alive again.
I like to choose words that have both a physical and metaphorical meaning. Ones that I can implement into my year. In reminder, challenge, wordplay. It makes that one word-of-the-year a little bigger on the inside. Last year's word Flourish had both the bloom where you're planted meaning, and also the added beauty meaning. And this year's word has at least two equally strong and applicable meanings.
Balance
a mantra. a pose. equilibrium. stability. equipoise. a pleasing integration. a parallel juxtaposition. moderation. a grounding, even if only an inch of you is still touching the earth.
Balance is the name of my meditation app, appropriately. As well as a whole branch of yoga, in both its physical and abstract senses. These give me immediate areas of focus and foundation for my word of the year. Our January Yoga with Adriene theme is "Center", which is integral to all forms of balance, finding center. Also, the very muscles needed for balance are often the small muscle groups most integral to longevity, and for me, targeted in my PT exercises for back pain.
Balance reminds you to tend to all parts of your body, both together, and in their turns. Physical, mental, spiritual, emotional, and so on. And in my experience, that is the only way to make progress in my own health.
I hope it helps me with my tendencies toward all or nothing.
I can use it to remind me of the third way
To say I pick neither, when the options offered are not life-giving.
Falling out of balance doesn’t matter, really and truly. How we deal with that moment and how we find our way back to center, every day, again and again – that is the practice of yoga…it’s about trusting that you will find your way.— Cyndi Lee
Be kind to your sleeping heart.
Take it out into the vast fields of Light
And let it breathe.