Filling what’s empty and emptying what’s full.
― A Hat Full of Sky
I have spent a year contemplating full and it has been a wise use of my time! I used Mary Oliver’s Summer Day as my starting point, and particularly these lines:
Tell me, what else should I have done?
Doesn’t everything die at last, and too soon?
Tell me, what is it you plan to do
with your one wild and precious life?
And so I began… thinking about how to fill my days and, more specifically, what to fill them with!
It soon became apparent to me that being full was a thing in flux…full, filling, empty. Full is not a “one and done” concept and that in order to appreciate full – I needed emptiness as well.
And, likewise, I quickly learned that there was little to appreciate in being “overly full.” Leaving space for more enhanced full…tremendously.
And so the sweet spot of filling became a thing I thought about every day… not just the filling, but the things I filled my day with!
But this does not end my journey with full… I will continue on and I am so excited about how full will fit with my new word for 2023!
I want to thank Carolyn for her continued inspiration in the power that a word can do for your days, weeks, months, and yes… years!
See you back here on Wednesday as I unravel my year of reading!
I know this is a word that presented some challenges for you early on, but I can see how you’ve grown into it over the past year. I look forward to finding out what you have planned for next year’s word!
In reading your posts, it felt like you picked a really satisfying word in Full this year. I’m not much good at OLW, but you even inspired me to think about the word as it relates to me and what I’m filling my days with. Well done, Kat, and I look forward to your word in 2023!
It’s a sign of a great word when it challenges us and we incorporate it into our daily lives. You certainly did that with full. I’m excited to hear about your new word, too!
Overly full is not Good. That just leads to indigestion. You are so right that you need to empty so you can fill with the Good things in life. Wondering what your nextvword is going to be.
I love the idea of a natural cycle of filling and emptying. It is so in tune with the natural world. What an interesting journey you have had with the word full.
It sounds like full was part of a…full…year! And I’m so excited to hear what’s next. If my memory serves, your last few words were somehow linked…one that needed another to come before it…etc. Curious if ’23’s word is also linked!? Love this Drumroll time of year 🙂
I’ve loved following you adventure this year of . . . FULL! It seems like one of those perfect-words-at-the-perfect-time for you, Kat! I can’t wait to see where you go next year. XO
Dear Kat, I hope that all our comments on your blog have contributed to your fullness (or near fullness, or filling, or whatever) because you have definitely contributed to ours. Thank you!