one little word: 2017

It seems important, now more than ever before, to share my One Little Word for 2017. I choose CARE to join my familiar friends: UNAFRAID, UP, and CHOOSE.

As I tweeted earlier today, we are not even one week into the country's new administration, and I am genuinely concerned and trying to mentally prepare myself for the possibility of a WWIII in my lifetime. Because of the actions of the man that the electoral college (NOT the American people) have elected into office. I am terrified every day of what my Facebook and Twitter feeds look like. One is full of the horrific acts this man is committing to our country. The other is full of fighting and arguing and to be quite honest, I probably won't publish the link to this post to Facebook because I don't want all the backlash and negativity to be directed at me and make my anxiety even worse than it already is. (#littleanxietythings)

This year, I want to practice the art of caring. I have always said there is a distinct connotation between "care about" and "care for." To care about implies passivity, in the way you care about when the next iPhone is coming out. To care for something requires action, in the way that you care for a loved one when they're sick. I want to become better at caring for both myself and other people. 

Self care is already a huge deal to me. My self care is always about the ways to tame my anxiety. But this year, I want to add practical goals of self care. This year, I want to make myself accountable. Pay my bills on time. Shower more than once every 5 or so days. Do my laundry at least once a week. Keep my spaces clean so that I'm not bogged down clutter and mess that creates more anxiety. Follow through on creating a routine I can stick to. Little things that add up to big ones. 

Caring for other people has always been a struggle for me. I want to make a point to work on it. Help more, even when it's not asked of me. Strike up a conversation with someone who looks sad. Smile at a stranger when we accidentally make eye contact at the grocery store. I want to generate more goodness in this world. More kindness. More L O V E. 

Care, we are off to a pretty good start so far. 339 days to go.