Last year’s word was expand, and I think i nailed it: everything got bigger in 2010 including my work, my dreams, my opportunities, my dress size, my family, my heart. A lot of growth has happened in the last twelve months, and I found myself yesterday, on the last day of 2010, feeling a bit worn out. I was trying to write this post, then thought i could do a review of the decade, and then i became very tired indeed, so I posted my favourite Polaroids of the year and closed my laptop, my word of the year ringing in my ears…

Compassion. Noun. sympathetic consciousness of others’ distress together with a desire to alleviate it.

Com~passion. living life with passion, with vim, with delight. Welcoming passion back into my life. Passionate.

It’s time to send some compassion my way, instead of beating myself with a stick every time i don’t live up to my own standards. Time to become conscious of situations, expectations and moments that cause me distress or discomfort, and gently let them go. This isn’t a get-out-of-jail-free card that let’s me off the hook: this year i fully intend to continue Doing The Work — the soul-work, the dream-work, the love-work — but if i can infuse some compassion into my life i believe i’ll not only be able to look after myself better, i’ll also be able to pass that self-care on to those i meet, whether it’s in an Unravelling group, my nephew and family, my friends, everyone.

The other side of my word is com-passion. With passion. I’m lucky to have a lot of love in my life, but you know what? I want more passion too. Continued passion for my work. Renewed passion for my body and health. And some new passion arriving from unexpected quarters… preferably in a six-foot tall, twinkly-eyed, cheeky-grinned package — bring it on!

The lovely Bridget asked us to pick a colour for 2011, and I immediately knew mine: RED. Lately I’ve been buying a lot of red, from the red leather cover for my Kindle (more on Kindles soon), my Moleskine pocket diary, a red dress, a red hoodie, a pretty red scarf… suddenly i can’t get enough of red, and wearing it makes me feel so much more energised and juicy. I’m under house arrest these days while i write write write (two months to go!) and infusing RED into my world is keeping me awake and inspired… can’t really describe it any better than that. Do you know what i mean? The lusciousness that is RED. The life-affirming, scorching, lick-your-lips hotness of RED. I want more of that.

After closing the laptop last night I prepared my dinner and lit a RED candle. The evening unfolded quietly, exactly as I’d planned, and I allowed myself to rest, rather than pick up a pen and continue writing. Sometimes it’s better to leave some space for the brain to reboot, deadlines or not. This evening I’ll be expanding on my word for 2011 using my Unravelling The Year Ahead worksheet — it’s the same one from last year but i found it so helpful i’ve updated it for 2011. If you know your word you might like to join me — you can download the worksheet >>> here. <<<

So tell me, what’s your word for 2011? Are you ready to set a few intentions for the year by candlelight tonight? x