by Kat | Jan 3, 2025 | General, Words
As I said here, it is so sad that English words can be so lacking…
However, I aim to remedy that this year with my word choice! (or did this word choose me??)
I discovered Yutori last July when I was spending some time thinking about companion words for time. Of all the words I considered… most were not as symbiotic as Time & Space, which I found were almost always coupled together.
Time is a definite thing but space… what does that mean really? Outer space? Inner space? Personal space? Make space for…? Giving someone space? You see where I am going here… space is this unknown element. And I wondered how you could couple something so very definite with something seemingly boundless…
But in a rare moment of serendipity… the next “doom scroll” session I had on Instagram halted me in my tracks. A post giving homage to Yutori… with the most beautiful description of this Japanese word. And imagine my surprise when this post echoed the first a day later. (I know I should not be surprised… the algorithms are always at work and, for once, it was a good thing to have “them” paying attention!)
That led me to a quick Google search of Yutori… and I found this beautiful video with the most amazing explanation of what Yutori is in Japanese… a concept of space being both physical and emotional. A way to use space to stretch time. Making space (and holding) space as sacred. Yes, please!
A bit more Googling and I was reminded of this episode of On Being with Naomi Shihab Nye. She talked about Yutori as well! (Really, this conversation is just so moving… it is absolutely worth a listen or a relisten!)
I am very excited to spend a year with Yutori as opposed to saying I am going to just contemplate space, which seems a bit lacking. My hope is that in contemplating Yutori… I will have a new (and better) understanding for all the spaces in my life.
And… in the manner of Yü Chou… I am picking up my seed of time and taking a deep breath and continuing!
But, my hope is that YOU will decide to join us this year… contemplating a word over twelve months can be so much fun. It can be enlightening. It can be inspiring! I think that the hardest part is picking a word… but really, any word will do! Want more fun in your days? Do a quick search of the synonyms of fun… pick one and jump in! Want to learn about something? Pick a related word and begin your journey!
Perhaps you fear that 2025 will be The Year Without Joy… well you can make your own joy by making Joy your little word!
Perhaps you want something specific … take this test from the WaPo to find a word! (I have gifted you the article, read on with confidence!) (and if you are interested in the “other nudge word” article mentioned, here you go!)
It does not have to be hard! Really… you cannot pick a bad word! (Trust me, I have tried… I always have gotten something out of my word!)
If you want something more structured… let me know, I have some suggestions for you to get yourself started!
If you want word suggestions, let me know and I will gladly help you!
Carolyn still has her “how to get started” information on her website. She really helped me hone in on how to make my word work for me!
But, I think what is best about contemplating a word for twelve months… is the companionship of other people doing the same. I have learned so much from what they share each month.
Finally, there will be no change to the day we all share our progress… I will follow Carolyn’s schedule and will have the link up on the last Monday of the month.
I really hope you decide to join us!
If you have questions, please don’t hesitate to email me! I would love to help get you stared!
See you all back here on Monday! (is it just me or is everyone confused on what day it is? I have been off all week but I hope to get back on track and be here in a timely manner on Monday! Ha!)
by Kat | Dec 30, 2024 | General, Words
All this
apparently
began when
matter and light
decoupled. What
were they
arguing about, I
wonder? The future? It’s
always the future
isn’t it?
An excerpt from David Hinton’s essay/poem on time in Emergence Magazine volume V: Time
“The yü ideogram portrays breath spreading beneath a roof…Similarly, the chou ideogram depicts a seed sprouting beneath the same dragon-spine wing-curve roof.” David Hinton
It has been such a magnificent year. Truly.
Magnificent.
This word first came tapping on my window way back in April 2023… and it was persistent as 2023 continued and I was eager to begin my time-focused journey in January.
I spent time… studying time… in all the ways one could think about time. I read books to expand my own time limitations. Two of my favorites… On Time and Water by Andri Snær Magnason and the latest Emergence Magazine volume on Time (I use the term magazine loosely… this volume was an actual book!) These two books changed so many things for me… they invited me to think differently… so differently about something as simple as time. (Which I discovered is about the deepest well that exists!)
I spent more time with Rilke, as his wisdom about the interconnectedness of time is as relevant today as it was when he wrote it.
I contemplated, again, Saving Time by Jenny Odell… and actively looked for (and found!!) those coveted pockets of vertical time.
I contemplated deep time, kronos and kairos time. I kept track of lunar time… and loved going outside to watch the moonrise. I experienced one incredible phenomenon… sunset and moonrise at the same time while we were in Erie last fall. I thought about time standing still… as it does when one mourns the loss of a beloved pet. I thought about how time flies… especially this month, when the days just seem to race past.
And still…time was my focus as I contemplated the concept of yü chou… that in the house of time, there is space to breathe and space to pick up the next seed of time… it feels to me like a perfect circle and I realize that the English language is lacking in its ability to have a word that so perfectly explains what I spent a year contemplating but perhaps yü chou is the most fitting to encompass all I have learned… that time continues, so take a deep breath and carry on.
And race by the days did because here I am at the end of December … very much feeling that I really don’t want to stop my study of time. But as you can see from my header photo… the sands have passed through the hour glass… I am “out of time,” as it were! It feels good to add time to my previous words and carry them with me as I walk into the New Year… taking a deep breath and picking up the next seed of time to continue on the journey.
In closing, I want to thank Carolyn for holding space for us One Little Worder’s the past few years. She has helped me find the pathway to joy in the journey with a word to help me focus. I am a better at OLW because of her. Thank you, thank you, Carolyn! Make sure you stop by and see how everyone else ended their year!
Next year, I will be holding the space for us to share our journeys… and I hope you will join us! I will have more details about all of this beginning next week. I will be sharing my new word and hopefully I will also have some inspiration during the month with the hopes that you might join us!
by Kat | Nov 25, 2024 | General, Words
We may try to think of you, Time,
but you, Time, think of yourself continually,
without need of imagination, assistance, or witness.
— Jane Hirshfield, an excerpt of her poem Time Thinks of Time*
Time was a thief this month… or perhaps it was its typical selfish-self… as the minutes, hours, days, and weeks raced past.
I have spent as much of my time as I could, settled into Time… the book… and when reading was not possible, I listened and re-listened to some of the essays read by the authors here. (You will find Jane reading her poem, Time Thinks of Time in the list… and it is so very worth the listen!)
What a perfect serendipitous gift this issue was… and it has made me think and rethink my thoughts on time. Perhaps it is just being at this point in my life, closer to the end than to the beginning, that the focus on time has bubbled to the surface of my thinking. But I had so many things that tipped me towards this word last year… far too many to be a coincidence. I think perhaps that some other force gently nudged me into thinking about time. I am so glad I followed the nudges because it has been a magnificent year of learning! It makes me a little sad to turn the calendar from November to December in a few short days, ushering in my last month with this word.
Except… it won’t really be the end, will it? Time being a constant… at least as we know it in our days. Or is there a way to change our perception of time. As Ms. Hirshfield so brilliantly reminds me in her poem, “What might be different, could we interrupt you?”
And so, this month, I set out to discover ways to do just that… interrupt time. I’d like to say that I found an abundance of things, but sadly that is not true… there was not enough time… but the thing that topped the list turns out to be the best interrupter ever created! That is, of course, wee Franklin. He is the Master Time Disrupter! But then, he is currently the Master Disrupter of All Things!
Master Disrupter of All Days wondering if there will be a second brekkie today…pretty please?!
But despite his disruptions this month I was reminded that the simple act of knitting a row or two is an excellent pause on racing time… that and a quietly napping pup!
I shall continue to contemplate ways of interrupting time… and perhaps the act of contemplating is the first (and best?) interrupter of time!
As always, I am so thankful that Carolyn provides a space for us to share each month. Way back when I started having a word focus, I had much to learn… and staying focused was not easy! Carolyn helped cement this practice for me by providing a reminder and a space to share. I cannot thank her enough for all that she has given to me!
Stop by and see how others fared with their words this month!
*Time thinks of Time by Jane Hirshfield published in Emergence Magazine, Volume 5: Time.
Header photo by Skitterphoto
by Kat | Oct 28, 2024 | General, Words
October has always been my favorite month. I love the weather… it eases back and forth between summer and autumn. The sun is at the most glorious angle and it lights up everything with the most beautiful glow. And even if there is a grey day, the trees provide the most beautiful light!
So this month I tried my best to practice keeping time versus time keeping me. Or maybe in better words… being a conductor of what is happening versus a recorder of what has happened. Although, sometimes being the latter is crucial to a day, I don’t want to be focused on making sure I record everything. I much prefer to look at a day and the time allowed to it use it as best I can.
As the month draws to a close, I am so grateful for 10 days in Erie… Presque Isle helps me find that vertical time sweet spot… and that makes the days feel like they stretch on forever.
And last Friday, when we brought wee Franklin home, a new kind of time started… the time of new beginnings! And so since then I have been immersed in that time. New beginning time is … time consuming and exhausting and at times hilarious. Franklin has two speeds currently…. fast as f**k and sound asleep. I have spent more time on the floor in the past 3 days than I do in a month! (Yay for all that getting up and sitting down!!) I have been trying to be a precise time keeper each night, making some observations on the day… but that exhaustion thing is very real. My preference is to write things down manually, but I have been cheating with some electronic notes on my phone… I will eventually get them onto paper, but for now it is a quick way to remember things!
Speed: passed out.
And so… as I try and savor every last moment of October, I am happy that I had a good chunk of the month where I excelled at keeping time… it makes these ending days of just focusing on making sure I am a good time keeper not a bad thing at all!
Ten months in and my delight with Time has not waned! I am eager for these last two months to show me new things about Time!
Again, a huge thanks to Carolyn for providing a place for us to all gather together and share our progress!
I will hopefully be back on Wednesday with some unraveling (I am not sure about any actual knitting, but I promise to have more photos of wee Franklin!)
Header photo by Cats Coming
by Kat | Sep 30, 2024 | General, Words
Time is the fire in which we burn. — Gene Roddenberry
I have reached the portion of the year that feels like I am racing against time. The days are growing ever shorter… both in the hours of daylight and what time I might have left to me. How appropriate that the seasonal changes are reminding me clearly that I am well into the autumn of my days.
This is not exactly a bad thing… or at least that is what I tell myself as I get up with the familiar aches and pains of my life. Those morning moments as I try to “get myself all working again” are the most humbling ones of my day.
I have spent this month contemplating what I want to accomplish yet this year in my study of time. Nine months in and I still am learning new things about time… or I am still learning new things about myself. I believe both things are true… and that is wildly invigorating! Learning is life!
I read a very interesting little book this month… Carlo Rovelli’s The Order of Time. When I first finished it, I thought… well, there’s not much here. But I am rethinking my initial thoughts on that little book… it is one I have not stopped thinking about. Most especially Rovelli’s thoughts on memory… he likens memory to time, or rather, that our memories are time.
This is time for us. Memory. A nostalgia. — Carlo Rovelli
Think you haven’t used your time wisely? Dip into the well of your memories and see just how perfectly you have used it.
I have spent lots of time in my memory well and have added pages chapters to the memory journal I am making for my kids. And in these moments, I find that time is not burning… rather I have found another point of Jenny Odell’s “vertical time” … where the passing of time stands still.
And that, dear friends, is a very good distraction from the feeling of trying to stay ahead of those flames devouring the minutes of my day!
As always, I am so grateful for Carolyn gathering us all together to share our progress each month.
Happy Monday everyone, I will see you all back here on Wednesday!
Photo by Eugene Shelestov
by Kat | Aug 26, 2024 | General, Words
I thought we were having an earthquake when the Enterprise August hit Warp speed. — Robert Bryndza
I hope you will allow me a bit of a tweak in the line from Mr. Bryndza’s The Not So Secret Emails of Coco Pinchard! Like the Enterprise looked when Captain Kirk asked Scotty for Warp speed is how August felt to me… here and (almost) gone in a brief second. And I am both thankful and sad that it has felt so.
So very thankful that time has not dragged… and unbelievably sad that this month has just raced by.
I have spent much of my time this month dabbling… Doing bits of this and that. A bit of stitching here, a bit of painting there, a few rows knit here, more rows ripped out there. The days and my dabbling feeling a bit like an hour glass… turning over when all the sand has fallen to begin the process again.
I have also been reading thoughts about time. Mostly, reading and rereading Layli Long Soldier’s An Essay of (K)nots and Footnotes. Like all of her writing, it takes me time to settle in and begin to “get it”… but once I do… well, those feelings are the reason I keep reading and rereading! She makes me just the tiniest bit wiser.
This is how time works. A tapestry of interconnectivity. Pull on a loose thread, and find it woven through to the first (k)not. — Layli Long Soldier
As a “fidgeter” I am one to pull those loose threads… and, as inner perfectionist me is wont to do… quickly tie on a new thread and keep moving forward.
However, this month has helped me see that it is wiser to just leave the loose thread visible… knowing it is an important part of life… a visible reminder of when one thing ended. Then comes the hope of waiting for a new thread to begin and allowing myself the time to live in the in-between.
As always, I am so very thankful to Carolyn for providing us the space and encouragement each month to share our word work. Please stop and see how others have journeyed this month.
See you all back here on Wednesday!
Header photo by Jordan Benton
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