Enchantment is the Word of 2012

You might be wondering how I ended up with the word {enchantment} as my word for this new year. Here is a bit of the journey--

It actually started months ago--maybe August, when my friend Lori told me I was an enchanting person. She then asked me if I had read the book Enchantment by Guy Kawasaki. I was truly enchanted by the book. It impacted the way I approached my new school year, my interpersonal connections, and my business dreams for Brave Teachers. I'm rereading it these days.

When I started to think about a word for the new year (around Thanksgiving) nothing jumped out at me. I started to feel some pressure. I'm telling everyone else to do this word for the year thing, while I'm having a block! Every direction I was going was toward calm and peace and serenity, but I couldn't really settle anywhere. Enchantment did flutter by, but it never stuck.

And then this past week it flew in, it stuck, it let off some fireworks in my heart. Voila! I had my word for the year. The same day I was watching a video about Italy {sigh} and there was this quote:

"Enchantment is both the capacity of the world to charm us and the spell that comes upon us when we open ourselves up to the magic in everyday experiences." (Thomas Moore)

Perfect, I thought!

This year I want to be both enchanting to the people who pass through my life, but I also want to be enchanted by people and places and experiences I live. Some of my favorite synonyms for enchantment are: amazed, awed, captivated, delighted, ecstatic, enraptured, magical, wonder-struck, and wonder-working.

I'm not sure what all that means for me, but I believe it's going to be and enchanting year!

If you still haven't picked a word for the year, grab this free mini-workbook.

HERE is an amazing post (and cautionary tale) from Andrea Scher about the impact of a word of the year.

Best wishes to you wherever your new year takes you!