Pace: my word for 2017

It’s that time of year again. That fresh feeling. That moment of transition. For the past five years, I’ve chosen a word for the year, and each one has given me purpose and helped me to harness that fresh energy of January well into the year.

I adore diving into the deeper layers of what I really want, what feels really important. And I love this process.

In 2016, I chose bloom. And, boy, has it been true. Actually, I think I might have misspelled it. I think it maybe should have been BOOM – as in Copper Boom, and in more ways than one!

Bloom was about coming into my own, and about allowing the roots that I’d planted to grow into something bigger. It had a sense of really becoming more visible. And it encouraged me to share more, do more, grow more.

I’m grateful for bloom, and I’m also grateful that 2016 is done and 2017 lies ahead. The end of 2016 was particularly challenging – I got ill, I had to really make some difficult decisions with Copper Boom, and the state of the world really got me down. I’m glad to be looking at a fresh page, another new beginning.

Pace: my new phase

This year, I’ve decided on pace as my word. After a year of blooming and booming, it feels important – essential – to be finding my own pace, a sustainable way forward.

Pace is a verb and a noun: I will pace myself, and I will find my own pace. The grammar nerd in me loves that it is both.

This year, I am settling into my new home city, hopefully into a new owned home (fingers crossed please!), and into these two businesses I hope to run for years to come. All of this speaks of finding a sustainable pace – this is a marathon, not a sprint.

Pace also has a deeply personal significance to me. I’m getting married this year (like a real life grown up) and Pace will be my married name. So this year is also about embracing all the coming-of-age and transitions and love that comes with marriage and commitment. It reminds me of my place in the growing family around me, and that I get to choose how I show up to connection and commitment.

I love that pace is rooted in peace – and inner peace is something I look for every day.

I love the sensation of really feeling comfortable in my own skin when I think of pace.

I love that I don’t have to rush or strive. I get to set the pace.

My hopes for this year? They are many. And it’s not that my ambition has downsized. I just want to build my life, live my life, embrace my life at my own pace.

Jenny x

And you? Do you choose a word for the year? I’d love to hear!