Fill your bowl to the brim and it will spill. Keep sharpening your knife and it will blunt. — Lao Tzu
My process of unpacking full…. has been full of defining – thinking – and writing. I really love full as an adjective: not lacking or omitting anything; complete. And in order to achieve that, I need focus on using full as a verb: make (something) full; fill up.
Okay… so at this point, you might get the idea that I am thinking this year is going to be incredibly easy! (and after all that work from last year, there is a part of me that thinks that I have earned an “easy” word!) All I need to do is fill my days… right? Seems too easy on the surface… and if you scratch a bit deeper… being full does not necessarily mean one is happy. Or to borrow from my previous words… it does not mean focused, intentional living. Because I spent a year working on releasing some very not good things that were filling my life.
And then I began gathering full quotes… and Lao Tzu’s wisdom just jumped off the page and grabbed me! And it is there that I started really thinking about what Mary Oliver might have meant in these lines from The Summer Day: “Tell me, what else should I have done?”
And I am beginning to see that being full does not necessarily mean being full up to the top.
These are the questions I have been mulling over this month as I start this new journey to being full. And as January winds down (how is there only a week left in this month??) and I contemplate what else do I want to fill this month with. Or perhaps the better question is what does not need anymore filling?
I want to thank Carolyn again for hosting us this year and for providing the tools to begin this process.
See you all back here on Wednesday for some very fun Unraveling!
Full is multi-faceted! This sounds like it will be an interesting word to explore – the process of filling up your time, your mind, your life with things and people that matter while judging how much is enough and what doesn’t need any more. What a great word choice you made and you’re off to a good start!
I love the deep deep dive you did with your word, those rabbit holes reveal so much!! And they are fun to go down 🙂
Sounds like you are off on a great journey with this word. I think it could be worth considering how you can be full without over filling yourself. As in, what’s the least you can do and still feel full. Hope that makes sense.
I think choosing a word that seems easy but isn’t in practice is a wise and brave thing to do, and it sounds like you are doing an excellent job of carrying past words into your consideration of this year’s. Looking forward to seeing where this takes you!
After reading this twice, I’m left with the idea of eating. Of how, sometimes, we are Full–and yet we keep on eating. That just because more is available doesn’t mean we have to consume it…or that we’ll feel better or more fulfilled or happier if we do. I wonder, what is full enough? What a rich and thought-provoking start! I look forward to listening.
I love your process, Kat. We can be FULL . . . without being satisfied. I’ll look forward to following along on your journey with you this year.
What an interesting post on the possible meanings of full. I think you are off to a very thoughtful start.
I like your thought process here Kat…so many options and you are discovering them all. Like Carolyn, I thought of food – probably because I woke up in the middle of the night SO HUNGRY, How can that happen? It’s not like I don’t eat plenty (too much, honestly and obviously…). Nevertheless, I will be looking forward to where your Full Journey takes you.
Full seems like a very interesting and challenging word. I love the quotes you used in thinking about it, now I’m going to look up the Mary Oliver poem.!
What a lovely beginning, Kat – I look forward to seeing where this word takes you!