2010's Word

 

Blossom

I’ve been drawing a blank on what to put as my word for the year, and the year keeps trucking along oblivious to the fact that I haven’t picked a word yet. Then, while belatedly doing my Best of 2009 Challenge from Gwen Bell, it dawned on me how obvious it was. Last year there was a quote that kept popping up all over the place after I had adopted it as a kind of mantra and worked it into art pieces and so on:

    And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.

Anais Nin

    It occurred to me that “BLOSSOM” was the obvious choice for the word. Yet despite how obvious the word seems, I’m wondering why I am so resistant to it.

    Firstly, I guess when you pick a word that is going to be good for your growth and development, it is going to be something that pushes you, challenges you a bit beyond your comfort zone. What would be the point of having a word that didn’t grow you. So despite the fact that I know that “Blossom” is a wonderful thing for a woman to do, especially an artist, it still feels seeped in that “risk”, easier to hold back and hide than to open and expose.

    Secondly, as a creative type, I often ponder on the creative process, one which I often find quite cyclic. At the moment I am in a sponging phase, soaking in inspiration, trying new things, and mulching it all over in my subconscious. It’s a safe place to stay but at some point those little seeds of inspiration deserve to be allowed to “blossom”.

    I guess I also felt that if the word for the year is “Blossom” then that means that after the year is up I will be done with it, when in fact what it should means is that at the end of the year I will be practiced at “blossoming” and better able to do it in the future, that this year wont be the definitive blossoming but just the beginning…

    And so it shall be BLOSSOM:- Let the creative self blossom.

Thank you Ms Nin.

If you haven't done your word for the year, here is a link which may help: Kane