Category: WOTY

Discernment Is My 2024 Challenge
challenge · WOTY

Discernment Is My 2024 Challenge

Mina1 Comment

The first thing I did on January 1, 2024 was climb up a mountain with a friend. A little more than four hours on snow and ice in very cold, grey conditions. When we got back to the car, I couldn’t even manage to click the car remote to unlock the doors, my hands were so frozen. And it was glorious to open the year in nature, in the vigor of my body (which has not always been a given this year), with a challenge and great company.

Frozen waterfall on Mt Mansfield
Mina on Mt Mansfield
Mt Mansfield Trail

2023 was its own mountain and as much as I love mountains, I’m hoping that 2024 will bring fewer tears and fears and more ease and flow.

Every year (as many of you do, no doubt, and many of us here at Fit Is a Feminist Issue) I choose a WOTY (here’s last year).  Sometimes the word is aspirational and other years it is a beacon. This year it is the latter—a lighthouse to indicate the shoals, when I fall out of alignment with its intent; and a north star to guide my speech, actions and spirit.

My word is going to be DISCERNMENT. I had a lot of resistance to my WOTY last year, which was WELCOME, because, well, the year was even harder than I anticipated when I chose the word. Now, heading into another opportunity for a reset, I wanted to find a word that was neither overwhelming, as last year’s word felt at times (when I hadn’t just blocked the whole word from my mind), nor punitive. I say that because my first potential word for this year was FRUGAL. Oof. That felt like punishment and deprivation. And yet, I want to capture the intention I have going into 2024, to be more conscious of the choices I’m making. In particular, yes, the financial decisions I make, since my situation post-break up is radically different than it was when I was with my partner. I wrote about the results of those relationship choices in My Fit Feminism Is a Fraud.

Last year was also a no-shopping for clothes year (that was my annual challenge, which I usually have, in addition to my WOTY), so I didn’t want a word that doubled down on 2023. Which brings me to DISCERNMENT. A word that feels more about choices, all my choices, from how I spend my money, to how I spend my time and with whom. I feel, too, the grace in this word and I’m looking forward to exploring that aspect. And, how lucky that I have an accountability partner in Tracy, co-founder of this community. I’m hoping that having her company will help me with the alignment I had trouble with last year, as my 2023 word kept falling out of my mind.

As for my annual challenge (not a resolution!), I’m going to use my word as my challenge. For example, I’ve signed up for Home Exchange, which will enable me to go places that might not otherwise be in my budget. And, after a year without new clothes, shoes or accessories, I want to work on easing back into shopping with discernment, too. The last time I ended a no-shopping year, I was back to my old shopping habits more quickly than I would have liked. I’d like to do better this time. Starting, for example, with much more vintage and second time around, not only to be mindful of my spending, but also to be mindful of the environmental impact of my love of clothing and shoes.

And yes, I did shop on January 1 (while I drank my hot chocolate after the arduous hike) and I’ll admit that I’m excited to wear a new-to-me pair of black jeans and cozy sweater!   

words of the year by our bloggers, with a purple background Fit Feminists’ words of the year: the 2024 edition
fitness · WOTY

Fit Feminists’ words of the year: the 2024 edition

catherine w1 Comment

It’s fun to choose a word of the year. The keys to making the choosing process enjoyable are 1) not to overthink it; 2) not to take it too seriously or literally; and 3) to feel free to be as expansive or imaginative or idealistic as you like. We here at FIFI have done just that for a few years. As a warmup, you might check out previous years’ picks:

For my part, I like picking a word of the year much more than say, making New Year’s resolutions. It’s less prescriptive and more thematic. A word of the year is also open to multiple interpretations, offering us a range of choices as life takes unexpected turns. If you find this idea kind of interesting, you can read what we have to say about our upcoming year words and see if anything inspires or suggests something for you. And if you do, we’d love to know what word you picked.

So, here are our words for the year 2024:

Tracy:

My word for 2024 is STRONG. I feel it has several layers of meaning for me. Most literally, I am back to strength training and loving it, so I want STRONG to guide me in that. I am also aware that I’ve been feeling emotionally fragile for several years because of my divorce, and I am ready to shed that burden. I’m not talking “stiff upper lip” or eschewing vulnerability. It’s more along the lines of looking forward not back, and recognizing my strength(s) and letting them lead me. I’m sure there are other meanings that will unfold for me.

I am also excited that Mina and I have decided to be WOTY “accountability partners,” checking in to see how the words are working for us. It started because we were both going to use the same word (discernment), but then “strong” was speaking to me so much that I landed there. I’m not sure what she has decided. But regardless, we’ve partnered up and I’m feeling good about that. Happy 2024!

Diane:

This will be my year to “EXPLORE”. Not in the sense of visiting new places, which is weird for someone who loves to travel. It may not even be much about trying new things (I have more than enough crafting projects on the go already).

I plan to explore how I want to spend my time as a retired person. I’ll need to develop new time and money management skills as I have a long list of potential projects but will no longer be bound by externally-imposed schedules. Over-commitment chaos and decision-making paralysis are both plausible scenarios.

I want to get to know nearby spots in different ways: cycling, hiking, and hopefully on skates, skis and snowshoes. Will this be the year I finally visit every cooled outdoor rink in Ottawa (plus a few neighbourhood rinks)? That has been on my goals list since 2017. In some ways, this will be an extension of 2022’s year of tiny pleasures.

Mostly, I want to explore the inside of my own head. I’m not good at relaxing. I have lost the skill of letting free-floating thought lead to imagination and storytelling. Meditation? Ha! But as my aging body starts to betray me, I want to explore how to use my mind in a more disciplined way.

Elan:

It’s fitting that this word has been approaching for me for some time now: SLOW. And, for me, slow also has to be about LESS—not because I want less but because I want to enjoy what I have more. I wrote more about it here: Going More Slowly

Mina:

My word is going to be DISCERNMENT. I had a lot of resistance to my WOTY last year, which was WELCOME, because, well, the year was even harder than I anticipated when I chose the word. Now, heading into another opportunity for a bit of a reset, I wanted to find a word that was neither overwhelming, as last year’s word felt at times, nor punitive. I say that because my first potential word was FRUGAL. Oof. That felt like punishment and deprivation. And yet, I want to capture the intention I have going into 2024, to be more conscious of the choices I’m making. In particular, yes, the financial decisions I make, since my situation post-break up is radically different than it was when I was with my partner. I wrote about the results of those relationship choices in My Fit Feminism Is a Fraud.

Last year was also a no-shopping for clothes year, so I didn’t want a word that doubled down on 2023. Which brings me to DISCERNMENT. A word that feels more about choices, all my choices, from how I spend my money, to how I spend my time. I feel, too, the grace in this word and I’m looking forward to exploring that aspect. And, how lucky that I have an accountability partner in Tracy.

Nicole:

I find myself listening to stories of middle aged or older women who talk about finding comfort in words that are typically considered negative. Jann Arden talks about embracing the word “crone”. “Becoming a crone,” she concludes, “gives you the sense and the stability and power to be who you are.”

I have always questioned parts of myself. Whether my intelligence, appearance, right to speak, right to expect things and many other things. At 51, I feel too young still to embrace the word “crone”. But I like the meaning that Arden associated with it.

I have not embraced “crone” for my WOTY. I thought about “goddess” but that feels too confident for how I feel right now. I thought about “embrace”. Embrace the good and the bad. Because living to middle aged and older means being so grateful for every day – both the good and the bad. You can’t cherry pick the good. That’s not how living works. But the the word I have settled on is TRUTH. I want to be able to be my truth. Whether in my actions day to day or how I express myself to others. In fitness, I want to focus on movement that is true to my goals and my needs. Fitness that lifts my moods and makes me feel strong and confident for each truly alive day. TRUTH is for 2024.

Samantha:

My word is the word I want to inspire the coming year and the coming decade: ADVENTURE. I’ve been thinking of it partly in terms of my fitness identity. You might have read this blog post, Sam’s next fitness life: the active outdoor adventurer!

But I’m also thinking of it in terms of life in general. I want to explore and take on new challenges, try new things. I’ve spent a few years focused on knee surgery and recovery and now I want to take advantage of my new found mobility.

I want to cultivate an expansive mindset and take on some big new challenges across all the areas of my life, academic work, writing and research, teaching, personal relationships and friendships. I don’t want to shrink with age.

Catherine:

My word for 2024 is COLLECTIVE. As a Star Trek fan, let me clarify that it’s not the kind of collective where resistance is futile. Or at least not in a bad way… 🙂 

I’ve found this year that I am, in a fundamental way, happiest as a member of the collective, whatever that group may be. Whether it’s the philosophy department at my university, my Episcopal church in Charlestown, MA, my beloved book club, cycling friends, fellow bloggers, or various family groups and sub-groups, I function better and feel better when I’m acting in concert with them. This means physical activity of all sorts, social gatherings, life tasks, recreation or hobbies, travel, meditation, and even just lolling about.

As a person who lives alone and enjoys it, I’m a bit surprised to realize just how much I benefit from doing things with others. 2023 brought with it the chance to try out this approach to life, with travel and outings and exercise and hanging out much more with the people I care about. Yes, there are some tradeoffs ( I have to get up earlier than I might like…) but overall I’m much happier. In 2024 I’m doing more travel and activity, mostly as a happy component of my Collective.

Amanda:

My word is PRESENT. I want to be present to my life and my needs more. I want to be present to my own needs, my own experiences and my own aging. I want to enjoy my body and its movement more, and sometimes I am finding I simply miss my own feelings.

Amy:

My word is LITTLE. Not small. Not less. Little. I chose this word because I have a lot of goals and am approaching a “round number birthday.” For many years I have struggled with hitting certain goals because they were bigger than I had time or energy to tackle. But I get closer and closer to them over time. This year I am embracing the small changes, the incremental wins, and the little bits of progress so that I can recognize these achievements more fully. Many years ago I took a yoga class where the instructor gave us this mantra: inch by inch life’s a cinch, yard by yard life is hard. It has stuck with me for a variety of reasons, but aligns perfectly with my LITTLE 2024.

Dear Readers, have you picked a word for 2024? Looking for suggestions? Let us know.

fitness · WOTY

Reviewing our words of 2023

Sam BLeave a comment
Scrabble tiles spelling out “dream”

We’ve been choosing words of the year for a few years here at Fit is a Feminist Issue. Here’s our post announcing our words last year. In this post, we reflect on how well our words have served us. We ask ourselves if we made the right choice given the way our lives turned out.

ELAN

My word was “explore.” I appreciate how January Elan gave me permission to try things without judgement, but I now reflect on how realistic that was for me. Because you can only explore something for so long. And knowing my insecurities, it is difficult for me to withhold self-judgment, especially when, in groups, I am called upon to perform. So, as I face a busy fall with a new hobby that challenges me enormously, I think I would change—or perhaps pair—my word “explore” with the word “commit.” December Elan is going to commit to see through what she’s been exploring.

DIANE

My word was Accept. The shoulder issues that plagued me for much of the year forced more acceptance of my physical frailties than I had planned. I did exceed my own expectations on some cycling goals and I’m happy to be well in my way to qualifying as a swim instructor. Over the year I have moved from accepting my impending retirement to being eager for the next stage in life.

CATHERINE

My word has been Allow. Turns out, allowing is hard, especially regarding myself. Allowing myself to do less, to be what and where and who I am at the moment, requires courage. The times I’ve done this– said and done and shown what I needed and what I needed not– have been mostly positive. I’ve discovered that my friends and family already know who and what I am, and they’re happy to support me and let me be me. Not that I don’t get reminders and gentle nudges to do and be what I need to be in the world. For the most part, I appreciate that.. 🙂 So yes, Allowing is something I recommend for anyone shopping for a 2024 word.

SAM

My word of the year was “grow.” And I still love and embrace it. I may even reprise it! I’ve used it in the sense of growing in areas that are already my own–growth as deepening and strengthening–as well as in the sense of trying new things–growth as expanding and widening my horizons. In my very good moments I have a real sense of “watch out world, here I come” and “you ain’t seen nothing yet.” As I approach 60, I’m excited about the decade ahead. Zoom, zoom!

NICOLE

My WOTY for 2023 was Purpose. I said that I didn’t want it to be “purpose with pressure”. More about “purposely looking for fulfilling opportunities, whether at work or at the gym.

I feel I’ve been successful, in that way, in my career. I was looking for a new job in 2023 and landed on one in April that suits me quite well. It fits the bill in terms of the type of “purpose” I am looking for in my career.

At the gym, I continued with my regular routine, which I continue to find purposeful. My workout routine keeps me physically strong and mentally content.

I am purposely thinking of what my word will be for 2024.

I also want to mention that my word for 2023 was Blossom and then became Envision. That word “Envision” is still impactful in my life. I think of it in my regular mantras and when I am feeling I need an inner push to “envision” myself doing things that scare me or that I worry I am not “up to” or “good enough” for. So, I think WOTY can carry over, from year to year, in meaningful ways.

NATALIE

My “consolidate” materialized in a strong twice a week weight lifting workout. It meant saying “yes” to doing new things with friends and family that deepened our connection. I took a drawing class with my beloved in the spring and a pottery class with a friend from work.


I settled into my new home and after a year living here it truly feels like home.
It felt good to think about solidifying and appreciating rather than stretching and striving.

TRACY

I have absolutely loved my word of the year: THRIFT. As I said in my original post, it’s not “thrift” as in thrift shopping. It’s “thrift” as in being thrifty or frugal overall. It has mostly kept me on point with my “no-buy challenge,” in which I have bought almost no clothing, jewelry, accessories, shoes or photography equipment since December 2022. I say “almost” because I bought one new pair of running shoes (which were essential for taking care of my feet) and one new work bag (which had to be done since my old one was tattered and looking really unprofessional). I also had two photography equipment lapses: a new, smaller camera bag (which was my only buyer’s remorse situation of 2023) and a new 70-200mm f/2.8 lens, which was my only splurge of the year, purchased for myself as a birthday present–no buyer’s remorse. I loved the freedom (yes, freedom!) of knowing that shopping for things I would normally be shopping for were just off the table, and things that I was shopping (such as things in categories outside of the no-buy parameters and the new lens) had to be properly sourced, price-compared, and thought through. I feel as if using “thrift” as my guide this year has re-oriented my spending in a more mindful direction that has created a lasting shift.

thrift, in orange text on a dark blue background

AMY

My word of the year was create. I go through phases where I might not even be able to name my word in week or month chunks, but I kept coming back to this particular one and trying to sit with it, especially when I was frazzled. Making things (knitting and sewing, primarily) and creating ideas (mostly professional-minded) has kept me sane through a year with some curveballs. I’ve had to be very protective of my creative energy and remember that “No” is a complete sentence so I am not drained of my creative spark.

Create. Photo by Arthur Franklin on Unsplash.

MINA

Okay–my word was “welcome” and whoa this has been a year. First, my 28-year marriage dissolved definitively, and with that I lost my home and financial security. Welcome. Then my beloved 17-year-old cat died in my arms. Welcome. Then I got tired and more tired and even more tired. Until I ended up in the hospital, where they saved my heart from stopping. After which ensued months of mystery around what was wrong with me and why my potassium level was dangerously high. Now solved by daily medication. Welcome. Me and my WOTY have not always been on the best of terms this year. In fact, I’m sure it’s no coincidence that the word has not even stuck in my brain. When we did a mid year reflection, I’d forgotten my word. And I had to look it up again today for this reflection. Welcome. And yet, in the last couple of months, as my health has returned, I have noticed more welcome in my world. And I welcome the end of this year and the feeling the new year gives of new possibility, as random and arbitrary as January 1 is.

Welcome. Photo by Belinda Fewings on Unsplash.
Lying to Myself About Meditation
habits · meditation · mindfulness · WOTY

Lying to Myself About Meditation

Mina

Monday morning. May 8th 2023. I wake up after an unusually restful night of sleep. I know I got up to the bathroom once. Other than that, I have no recollection of sleepless restlessness, which is not the norm for me these last many months. The first thing I notice is the fading rose of the light on the buildings out my window, soft and clear. I am surprised the day is here. I check my iPad for the time. It’s on the bedside table. Reading a novel (on the kindle app on my iPad) in bed as I fall asleep is one of my life’s pleasures.

And, in that moment, reaching for the time, I realize this: I did not meditate yesterday. Horror! How could I have forgotten?

I comb back through the day. It was not my typical Sunday. To start with, I didn’t get into bed until 4:00 am. I was taking part in a big group photo shoot organized by some friends, which didn’t start until past midnight. That same morning, I stayed longer in bed than usual … waiting until the moment before I needed to leave for my 5 Rhythms group at noon. I left my iPad out in a particular location to remind myself to meditate when I got back. But not with a note, as I often do, if I don’t meditate first thing in the morning.

That was May 7th. My cousin’s birthday. He was born 4 days before me. It would have been 1617 days of meditation in a row. 617 days since the last day of the first in-person visit with my mother after pandemic.

My streak!!?? I couldn’t lose my meditation streak, too! Enough with the loss already (I won’t get into the details—I’ve written about them the last couple of months.)

I recalled that while I was lying in bed Sunday morning, I had thought to myself, maybe 5 Rhythms will be my meditation today. After all, Gabrielle Roth, who developed the technique, called it a moving mediation. Still, if I’m honest, I wasn’t thinking about that anymore when I got to the studio. I was just inside my body, inside the dance. So, did it count if I hadn’t thought to myself, in the moment, this is my meditation?

I’ve been meditating daily for more than 4 years now, and I have adjusted my expectations and the form my meditation can take several times. For example, when I started, I required of myself a minimum of 20 minutes. After a month, I relaxed into any amount of time counting, so long as I sat down intentionally. My meditations now are most commonly 10 minutes long. Another requirement was that I be seated—a cushion or a chair (airplane seats count) or a patch of grass. Just seated, you get the picture. Then, about six months ago, when life got especially challenging, I began to relax the seated requirement and relaxed into lying down meditation. Sometimes (often on days when I’ve woken up super early or am having trouble motivating myself to get out of bed), I start my day with a meditation in bed. 

So, I am not averse to adjusting my meditation habits over time. And, I’ve never made the adjustment unconsciously. And, I’ve never included a moving meditation in my streak, at least not before May 7th. And, I do think it’s appropriate to count 5 Rhythms as a meditation, though I’d probably feel differently if it was the only form of daily meditation I practiced every day, which is how I feel about lying down meditation, too. Yes, at times the system of rules and regulations and definitions of what counts and what doesn’t inside my head verge on the Kafkaesque. For example, I don’t count riding around town on a bike as my workout, but I’ve also realized that it is a factor that needs to inform the workout I choose to do on a day when I’ll be riding around town a lot.

Which brings me back to my immediate problem on May 8th—what should I do about the meditation streak?

First, I decided to meditate, with the intention to notice what was coming up around the issue. Then, I thought, why bother? You’re just fooling yourself. You’re back to zero. You won’t get back into the 1600s on a new streak until you’re into your sixties. Suck it up. I sat down to meditate anyway. I considered whether there was a freedom in not being on the streak anymore. I’ve got a number of new, unasked for and unwanted, freedoms in my life. I don’t want more of these types of freedoms.

These thoughts crowded my mind: I have deep expertise in the field of being hard on myself, maybe this was not the moment? But if I follow that logic, was I at risk of being too gentle? What long time discipline would I cheat on next? If I decided to count 5 Rhythms, was I lying to myself? What would I lie to myself about next? A rabbit hole of dire possibilities yawned open.

Then, as if switch flipped, my mind quieted and I heard, count it. Add the session into your log. The streak motivates you If after a few days, you feel like a lying, cheating fraud, you can always take it out.

Well, it’s been more than a week now. When I look at my streak count, which is, as I type this (on Friday May 19, is 1628, I feel no remorse. I’ve come clean here about my streak. That’s enough. No public hanging required. I will continue on with my streak.

That last sentence was supposed to be the end of this post. My intention was to let the writing sit over the weekend and come back to polish the next week.

…

Except.

…

Saturday morning. May 20th 2023. I finish my run and decide to meditate outdoors. It’s only then that I realize, holy fucking shit, I did not meditate on Friday. The very day I was writing my first draft of this post, I forgot to meditate. Again. And this time, there was no 5 Rhythms waiting in the wings to save me. I was stunned. Was this the universe punishing me because I was lying to myself about my meditation streak with my 5 Rhythms fiddle? I sat down to meditate on my new streak-less reality. As I listened to the wind in the trees and breathed the breeze, waves of grief, followed by waves of jubilation rocked through my body. Each wave swelling into the space of the receding wave, as grief rolled into jubilation rolled into grief. For everything that’s been happening. When I finished my meditation, I was shaken. And I accepted. No, more than that, I welcomed what was. That was my word of the year, here was a reminder of the practice. I was not being punished or tested or whatever. I was living and doing the best I can. Later that day I bought a bottle of champagne to share with the friends I was having dinner with. To celebrate the ongoing deconstruction of my life.

This was the quote on my Insight Timer app on the day I realized that I’d forgotten to meditate. It felt like a message addressed to me rather directly. And the other image is my welcome to what now is.

I’m on day 4 of my new streak today. Or so Insight Timer tells me. And I don’t intend to streak for the time being. I will take the days as they come. 

fitness · motivation · WOTY

Collective Word-of-the-Year Update

Tracy I
Image description: star-shaped word cloud featuring the repetition of four words in block letters: GROWTH, WELCOME, PURPOSE, THRIFT.

A few of us chose Words-of-the-Year back in January and we are due for a check-in to see how the chosen WOTY are working for us.

Mina

I couldn’t even remember my word, when Tracy proposed this post. When she reminded me it was WELCOME, I had to go back and look at why. Oh right, because I knew how hard the year was going to be and I wanted to find something that expressed a willingness to receive what was given this year and, in that way, find flow and ease, dynamism and stillness. I rejected the words GRIT and RESILIENCE, as too much focused on survival (versus the potential to thrive). I’m glad of my choice. At this point, every time someone tells me I’m resilient, a part of me wants to punch them and then collapse to the ground screaming and crying to prove that I’m not and that I need their care. I am welcoming those feelings. I am welcoming grief. Sure, some moments I set my grief off to the side, to try to focus on work or a friend or the potential of a pleasurable moment. But I am never denying grief, or pushing it away, as if it doesn’t belong. This opportunity to be reminded of my word and welcome it anew is well-timed. Welcome springtime.

Nicole

My WOTY is PURPOSE. I also forgot what it was and Tracy reminded me. I thought it was BLOSSOM, but turns out, that was last year’s word. I think there is something to the way my memory has worked with respect to the WOTY. Perhaps, 2022 was getting my mind ready to BLOSSOM, but I wasn’t in a place to actually BLOSSOM. After leaving my last job and having some time to find my next opportunity, I had the privilege of time to think about where I would like to work. I have landed in a place that will provide me with an opportunity to learn, grow, use my legal skills and work at helping others. This seems like an opportunity to BLOSSOM. It also seems like an opportunity to do my work with PURPOSE (2023 WOTY). With respect to exercise, sometimes I have to remind myself the PURPOSE of my exercise. I am good at keeping my schedule, but lately, I find myself tired and cranky, on occasion. I blame it on menopause, but it could be other factors. Either way, in the moments of tiredness and crankiness, I believe it would be wise of me to remind myself of the PURPOSE of why I exercise. It provides me with energy and a clear head and strength – life transitions be damned. I also am purposeful about appreciating the ability to experience these life transitions, as I am more often than not, cognizant of this privilege that not all are afforded. I’m glad to be reminded of my WOTY. I endeavor to use PURPOSE in both my work and working out, for the remainder of the year.

Samantha

From my original WOTY post, “My word for 2023 is GROWTH. I want to expand in lots of different ways. I want to learn new things, make some new friends, discover some new music, travel to new places, read some new authors, and think about new problems. I want to challenge myself to think big and take risks. I’m not sure yet what the specific fitness applications of this new focus will be but I’m open to ideas.”

How’s that working out for me?

Well, on the one hand, not as well as I’d hoped. It feels a bit more like Groundhog Day, as I’m halfway through medical leave for the second knee replacement. Instead of doing new things, mostly I’m working hard to get back to old things. I keep thinking words like “grit” and “determination” might have served me better.

On the other hand, if I think about life on the other side of this surgery and recovery, “growth” is still a word that excites. I keep thinking about new things I can do and new places I can travel with two working knees. It’s also pushing me to think about goals bigger than mere recovery. I’m excited about a lot of strength training in my future.

Elan

New things I have EXPLORED so far this year:

  • Tap dance lessons (first time ever)
  • A new position in soccer (first time ever)
  • Handbells choir (first time in 35 years)
  • Some wild high-tech shorts that measure your shape in 3D (review post forthcoming)

Last year during a tough time @fieldpoppy wrote about following Adriene’s yoga series, Begin, in which she describes the “Beginner’s Mind.” It’s exactly the non-self-critical headspace that gives the rest of me permission to explore new things: “presence, simplicity, no decisions. […] Experience what’s there now, not what was once there, or what could be there in the future.”

Tracy

My word-of-the-year this year is THRIFT. Not in the sense of “thrifting,” where you shop for bargains at thrift stores, but more in the sense of being thrifty or frugal overall. It dovetails with my no-buy challenge, which involves no purchasing clothes, jewelry, accessories, or camera equipment in 2023.

These things all made the list because they are things I tend to spend way beyond my needs on them. There is simply no need to browse the clothing every time I go to Costco, to buy earrings every time I travel, or to keep adding to my camera kit when I already have more equipment — and it’s good equipment — than I regularly use.

The no-buy challenge and my WOTY have combined to make me think more carefully about my “allowable” expenses. As has everyone, I’ve noticed the prices shooting up in the grocery store and at the gas station, making everyday necessities quite a bit more expensive than they used to be. Taking a more thrifty approach means I will sometimes forgo things I would otherwise have purchased.

It’s also gotten me to try a discount airline for the first time. I’m flying out to Vancouver to see my step daughter and her partner and meet my new grand-baby. on Swoop the round trip ticket is a mere $163 CDN! If I can get away with just a small back pack (I’m gonna try!), I won’t have to fork over the additional $60 EACH WAY for a carry-on! If I wasn’t trying to economize this year I’d probably just do it. But now I feel as if it’s a challenge.

Related to my no-buy thrifty year, is a more aesthetic desire for minimalism. I’m not there but I wish I could be. If in the second half of this year I can combine no-buy with also shedding some stuff, so much the better.

I find having a WOTY can be a motivating touchstone for me when I’ve chosen well. This year I feel I’ve chosen very well. I had a brief moment today where I started browsing for dresses on a website, and pretty much the only thing that stopped me was my no-buy thing. Indeed, I almost said “screw it! I can buy a couple of dresses,” and then a friend who I ran it by said, “but think how you’ll feel after you’ve done so well so far.” That got me over the hump. The moment passed. I didn’t buy new dresses and instead I committed to going through my closet to remind myself what’s in there as far as summer wardrobe goes. I’m sure there is plenty.

I anticipate one exception, which is I need new running shoes pretty soon. I think that should be okay since it’s a well-considered purchase and my current shoes are reaching their training mileage limit.

All-in-all I’m happy with my word THRIFT and can already see a slight shift towards more intentional MINIMALISM in my future for next year.

The words "word of the year" on the front of a sea-green colored book. Catherine’s 2023 word of the year: an update
fitness · WOTY

Catherine’s 2023 word of the year: an update

catherine w1 Comment

It’s almost May 1. For me, this date signals a shift in my work, in my schedule, in my life cadence. May 1 is the last day of classes (although not the last day of meetings, or grading or exams). But still. It holds out the promise of summer– of beaches and lakes and forests and backyards and decks.

Four months into 2023, it occurred to me to check out my WOTY– word of the year. We at Fit is a Feminist Issue have been posting them for some years now. Here are a few of our posts:

What’s your Word of the Year? Here are ours (2021)

It’s word-of-the-year time again (2022)

Fit Feminists’ 2023 Words of the Year

Mine for the past three years have been these:

  • awake in 2021
  • creativity in 2022
  • allow in 2023

I’m not sure how these words of the year are working out for me. Maybe it’s not my fault, but 2021 now seems like a haze, with transitioning from life and work entirely online to venturing into work and other people’s homes in person. I don’t remember how awake or alert I was.

Creativity is a good word for any year for me, certainly as an aspiration, a reminder of the joys (for me) of making, making new, opening up avenues for novel activity. I love me some novel activity; if you missed last Sunday’s post on my visits to an alpaca farm, float tank and the wackiest massage chair ever, check it out here. I’m not taking issue with my 2022 word, but rather it’s kind of a primary word for me every year. Does that count? I’m not sure how the word-of-the-year authorities would rule on this one.

Which brings us to 2023: Allow. Yeah, no. What possessed me to pick ALLOW as my word? I am sooo not an allowing kind of person. Letting things be, going with the flow, keeping cool– all these are most definitely not descriptors of me. And they also don’t describe how my year has gone so far.

Work life has been turbulent– coming back from sabbatical to a new department chair, hiring a new colleague, and adjusting to the loss of my dear friend and colleague Laura, who died last year. Home life has been fun but busier, with two out-of-town friends staying with me once a week while working in Boston. Active life has been opportunistic and not systematic, which is not an unfamiliar pattern but one that I’m not happy with. All of this points to one thing: I need a new Word of the Year.

Luckily, the internet has lots of suggestions. I checked out this site, and from all the ads, it seemed like her WoTY was Vrbo. Not helpful. This one had 244 options, which is just too many for me.

But you gotta pick sooner or later, so here’s my adjusted Word of the Year: Friend.

Of all the things I do, being friends with people is one of my favorites. Doing things with them, talking with them, helping out from time to time, and even allowing (yeah, I guess that word is somewhat useful) them to help me– all these things are what I consider my life to be about.

Yesterday I had friends over for brunch and then we went to the Boston Museum of Fine Arts for their annual Art in Bloom exhibit. Garden clubs around the area are assigned a work of art, and they construct a flowery companion for it. I go often, and it’s always fun. Here’s a selfie of us from yesterday:

Melanie, me, Deb, and Mari at the museum.
Melanie, me, Deb, and Mari at the museum.

Yeah– Friend. That works. I’m shifting words, but I think this is much better.

What about you, friends? Did you pick a word for 2023? Do you remember what it is? How’s it working for you? I’d love to hear how things are going for you and your word.

fitness · WOTY

Grow: Sam’s new word of the year

Sam B
A small green plant in a person’s hand

It’s been a few years of working hard to handle what’s been on my plate. There’s the big job (no longer so new), a global pandemic, and now knee replacement surgery. I’ve drawn on my strengths and I’ve had help from friends and family and community, at both work and at home. Together we’re getting through.

It’s been tough and some hard struggles are still ahead. Academic budgets are tight in this province and some family members had a particularly tough time through the pandemic. I’m also planning on the second total knee replacement sometime in the coming year. So the challenges aren’t over.

At the same time I’m feeling the need to grow and expand, to learn some new things. I want to reach out a bit more rather than focusing inwards.

In Tracy’s blog post on our words of the year I identified “growth” as my word of the year.

I wrote, “My word for 2023 is Growth. I want to expand in lots of different ways. I want to learn new things, make some new friends, discover some new music, travel to new places, read some new authors, and think about new problems. I want to challenge myself to think big and take risks. I’m not sure yet what the specific fitness applications of this new focus will be but I’m open to ideas.”

The more I think about it though I think I prefer the verb, GROW, to the noun, GROWTH.

I’m still not sure what it means for me fitness wise. I’m thinking a lot about that lately as I gear up for knee replacement number two and think about what’s after that. Long hikes I’m hoping. I’d like to lure Mallory back to New Zealand for some great walks.

It’s also time to think about 60, just a year and half a way, and what the means for my fitness plans and my life, in general. Another book with Tracy? Maybe. We’ve talked about an anthology, a collection of essays drawing on the bigger blog community.

I want to connect to with new work going on in my own academic discipline as well as branching out to learn more about what’s going on across the university.

But whatever is ahead, I’m dreaming big. I’ve got growing and changing on my mind. Have any ideas? I’m ready for new opportunities!

Fruit hanging from vines overhead
fitness · WOTY

It’s Word-of-the-year time again #woty

Tracy I5 Comments
Image description: Wordcloud composed of the following words: smile, space, spaciousness, stretch, creativity, skillflow, blossom, integrity, focus, better, #woty (from edwordle.net)

For some time now many of us here at Fit Is a Feminist Issue have been choosing a word-of-the-year as a sort of guide or focal point or value for the year to come (or at least that’s how I see it). You can read about our last year’s words of the year here. We also posted a check-in at around the halfway point to see how our words were serving us. Earlier this month Mina posted about the WOTY challenge and set us all to thinking about it. Her new word of the year, which she coined herself: skillflow.

Here are the rest of our words of the year, some with a little context about why we chose them.

Tracy: Focus

In 2021 my word was “mindfulness” and it helped me stay aware and present. For 2022 I have chosen the word “focus” because despite aiming for mindfulness, I have been feeling scattered, distracted, and overextended. I think “focus” will help me feel more grounded in one thing at a time and more aware of when I am taking on too many things that distract me from the things I would like to focus on. I am not an effective multi-tasker, and the idea of making a conscious effort to focus makes me feel lighter already. It will also remind me to take out my camera more often, since photography is one of the things that gives me joy.

Diane: Better

My word is “better”. Not in the sense of improving my skills, or doing longer or more frequent workouts, though I would be happy if those things also happened. I struggle with inertia and decision paralysis when there is no crisis or element of “new, shiny” to focus on. This year I want to focus on remembering that doing something is better than doing nothing. And then do something, even if it is just for a few minutes.

Nicole: Blossom

My word is “blossom”.In the year when I turn 50, I would like to encourage myself to blossom not settle or become stagnant. Whether it’s improving my speed when running or trying new strength exercises or finding things in my career that inspire a sense of blossoming.

Samantha: Integrity

My word for the year is ‘integrity.’ I’m not sure that’s exactly what I want though. I was torn between that and ‘authenticity.’ I do know that in a world that’s increasingly turbulent I feel the need to anchor in my own values and centre my way of being in the world. It’s the idea of being ‘rooted’ in the things that matter. Obviously I’m still thinking about the exact word but ‘integrity’ works for now.

Catherine: Creativity

My WOTY for 2021 was awake. And I have been. Awake to where I am in the moment, fretting slightly less over possible futures and past events. It’s been work, staying awake. But I’m here. For 2022, my WOTY is creativity. I’m looking forward to exploring the less analytical parts of myself, especially through writing, but also through movement. What does creativity in movement look like? I don’t know yet. I believe it will include more dancing, wild swimming, nature exploring on foot and bike, taking time out from my usual goal-oriented self. Stay tuned…

Elan: Smile

I took a beginners soccer clinic a few years ago. To introduce our first passing exercise, the coach asked us, “Do you know what is the first thing you do when you receive the ball?” I was expecting him to give an answer about footwork mechanics, but instead he said, “You smile. Because you have possession, and that’s why you are here. To play, be part of the game, and have fun. So no matter what, when you first touch the ball, smile.”It can be challenging to start or continue with new activities when you aren’t really good at them or feel you could be better. So in the new year, as I continue to explore new sports and exercises, instead of thinking negatively and being hard on myself I will instead remember to smile. 😀

Martha: Space

I made a vision board this year and hadn’t settled on a word per se as I was still letting things bubble. When I looked at the images, they reflected creative pursuits, physical adventures, risk taking, and embracing change. I realized all of these things were about space: My word is space: Taking space, making space, holding space. I’m taking space back for things that matter. I’m making space to grow, to reclaim and to explore. I’m holding space for me — to see where I want to go in this next decade.

Christine: Spaciousness

My word for 2021 was consistency and that worked pretty well. I wasn’t necessarily consistent in that I always did things every day or over and over in the way I had originally intended, but I did achieve a sense of consistency overall. I was quicker to come back to the things that I intended to do, they didn’t just drift away until I was reminded of them again. And I’ve also put a lot of systems in place to support consistency and make things easier for me overall.For 2022, my theme is spaciousness. After writing a month of blog posts about making space, I have a richer sense of the sort of space I need in my life on a day-to-day basis. The fact that this knowledge is coming at the same time as my best level of medication yet and at the same time that I have finished homeschooling my youngest child seems fortuitous. Because of a combination of ADHD and personality I have felt rushed and out of control of my time for a lot of my life. I’ve done a lot of work in the last few years to unpack that feeling and figure out which aspects I can change and which ones I have to accept or reframe.Seeking spaciousness for the next year will help me to continue that work and create space in my mind, in my projects, in my home, and in my schedule.

Natalie: Stretch

Last year was “rest” and it really helped me relax into what I could and couldn’t do in 2021. But like a muscle that has been retracted or coiled up I’m choosing 2022 to “stretch” my body, my talents and my ways of thinking. All that rest and inward focus has put me in a rut and I need to stretch out into new spaces and places to grow.

Image description: Winter scene of snow falling and close-up of snow-covered pine boughs in the top right corner. Overlaid on the scene are the words, “For last year’s words belong to last year’s language. And next year’s words await another voice. – T.S. Eliot”

Let’s see what next year’s new voices reveal!

What’s your #woty?

It’s WOTY-Challenge Time!
challenge · motivation · new year's resolutions · WOTY

It’s WOTY-Challenge Time!

Mina3 Comments

In this last month of the year, two thoughts bubble up: What’s my word of the year (WOTY) and what’s my challenge? Many of my fellow bloggers here are thinking about their words. Nicole, for example, says she is looking for a word that expresses the opposite of existential dread. I look forward to what she comes up with. We will have more WOTY posts, to be sure.

Last year my word was enough. For the early part of the year, I reminded myself with some regularity what my word was. I needed the specific boost. Just now, when I sat down to write this, I realized I’d forgotten what my word was. Yet, when I looked back and found my word, it was like a carillon. Oh yes, now I remember my word and I didn’t need the reminder after a certain point in the year, because I had installed an enough-ness fuel gauge in my bodymind dashboard and was taking conscious note of the fuel level on a more regular basis. That realization, in and of itself, topped up the fuel in my enough-ness tank. My word did its job. Pause for mini-celebratory dance.  

In a recent Peloton class one of my favourite instructors, Christine D’Ercole, said that we should give ourselves user names that, when we say them out loud, have the same effect as an encouraging hand on our back. That’s the effect I’m looking for in my WOTY. A word that encourages me. A carrot word. Not a stick word. 

Colourful assortment of letter tiles
Surendran MP on Unsplash

This year’s word builds on enough. I’m not going to give it to you straight out. There’s some stage décor to put in place first. It turns out that enough is a pretty damn bold word. Enough gives me the courage to plunge into learning new modalities (including two separate yearlong trainings, one in Non-Violent Communication and one in Internal Family Systems). Enough inoculates me against being overwhelmed by the voices in my head and in society, who say that I’m past due on expanding into new disciplines. Enough grants me the audacity to incorporate these new techniques into my work now with the simultaneous confidence of a seasoned practitioner and the caution of a novitiate. I am integrating my existing skills base with the fresh skills I am learning and honing to offer more holistic coaching and workshops.

At first, my word for next year wanted to be something like mastery. But two reasons held me back from that choice. First, the word is outmoded and even ugly, in a world that is waking up to all the hidden and subtle ways we perpetuate inequities. Mastery comes with a heavy burden of colonialism and racism.

This first reason would have been more than enough to keep the word out of contention. But there’s more. The word feels static. As if we can master something and then that’s it. One and done. Thank you very much. You may now come to me with questions. I’ve moved on to answers. No. That’s not how I feel about the skills I already have facility with, nor how I feel about the new tools I’m adding. There’s dynamism in the process. Learning is cyclical, not linear, building and looping back on itself to collect new gleanings.

I wanted a word to express my desire to keep learning, integrating, experimenting and refining. In that spirit, my word itself is freshly coined, by me.

Skillflow.

That’s my word. Say it out loud. Feel it on your tongue. Listen to it come out of your mouth. Do you feel how open the word is? Versus, for example, the word skillful, which closes in on itself with that final letter L.

Skillflow: (noun) the continuous, regenerative cycle of learning and applying our skills; the flow of fresh skills mixing with honed skills in a reciprocal renewal of energy.

I am already enough AND I’m going to learn so much this year. I’ve got my word.

So … I wrote all those words above yesterday and I felt plugged in and buzzing with possibility. Excited for the year to come. Up to the task. Empowered. Then I woke up this morning with a possibility hangover. That’s when the part of me who is fearful of failure gets very loud. I was down in the dumps. Questioning everything from my right to even propose a WOTY to my very existence. Apparently, my word is threatening to some part of me that fears that a hand on my back will push me right over a cliff into a humiliating failure; that I’ll choke on my carrot word. Sigh. Thank you, fearful voice. Breathe. Notice that I am learning new skills around befriending that scared voice. Allow her words to flow through me, instead of getting stuck inside like a brick in an impenetrable wall of the-truth-of-who-I-am.      

My word for 2022 is skillflow.

How about that challenge I mentioned? Challenges are my version of resolutions (but not). A friend calls them my annual devotional tasks. They are ways of being I want to try on for size, with no commitment to extend after the year is over.

Last year my challenge was twofold—to continue not to shop for anything from Amazon.com except books and movies (an extension of my 2020 challenge) and to commit to a poetry exchange with my friend (and fellow blogger here), Kim. We agreed to send each other new poems we’d written every second Sunday. We have two poem cycles left and the whole process has been fresh and bracing, plus liberating and connecting. Excellent. Last year, I wanted a challenge that wasn’t all about self-discipline and denial, which has characterized quite a number of my challenges (like not shopping for clothes for a year). This year I want a challenge … well … I have no clue what to do this year.

I’d love to hear your WOTYs and any ideas for a challenge.

A woman with eyes open in bed with white sheets. By Alexandra Gorn for Unsplash. Catherine’s word of the year: Awake
fitness · WOTY

Catherine’s word of the year: Awake

catherine w2 Comments

I’m not an early bird. However, even the morning larks among us would agree that 2020 was a good year to sleep through. Sleep is magic. Sleep is healing. Sleep feels delicious. Sleep is good for almost anything that ails us. But for me in 2020, I spent a lot of time turning away from the world outside, retreating, trying to shut out the feelings caused by what was happening. I just wanted to go to bed and wake up in 2021.

And now it’s here. 2021. Time to be awake, alert, engaged, curious. Time for sensing, feeling, thinking, processing, inquiring, musing.

It’s sunflower time.

A sunflower (girasole in Italian, meaning “turn to the sun”) seeks the light, turning to follow the brightness of the day.

An upright sunflower, enjoying some direct light against a blue sky. By Lisa Pellegrini for Unsplash.
An upright sunflower, enjoying some direct light against a blue sky. By Lisa Pellegrini for Unsplash.

I’m not sure I can manage quite that degree of exposure this year. Luckily, there are modifications available.

A sensible sunglasses-wearing sunflower. I like that idea. By Wan J. Kim for Unsplash.
A sensible sunglasses-wearing sunflower. I like that idea. By Wan J. Kim for Unsplash.

With or without sunglasses, sunscreen, and big floppy hat, I want 2020 to be a year in which I keep my eyes open to take in what’s around me and in me, even if it’s a bit much. I have dreams and plans and goals: for movement, for creativity, for connection. They can’t be done (or done well) in the dark. I need light and space and energy and warmth (or bracing cold) to be fully involved, aware. And awake. That’s it.

Dear readers: do you have a word of the year? What would you like it to be? What do you need to inhabit your word? I have extra sunglasses, if you want to borrow some.