I first discovered ONEWORD365 when I was searching the web for a 365 New Words a Year Page-a-Day Calendar. I had received the 365 New Words a Year Page- a -Day Calendar 2014 for Christmas. I had thought a fun writing project would be to write one sentence for each word into a story, working hard to connect such unique and unfamiliar words. Unfortunately, I had thrown away the first word really without even looking at it, as I settled my calendar into work on January 2nd. I went on-line searching for the first word of this particular calendar. Instead, I found this journey and community. Funny thing is, the focus here is one word, and I discovered this whole amazing community by searching for one word.
Choosing my word wasn’t really a choice. The word rather quickly worked its way to the front of my brain. Understanding. Then, I honed the word further to the verb of this word: understand. This felt more in line with my journey; action oriented.
I have been working to be more understanding for a very long time. But, as many things in our lives, focus, attention, and intention waxes and wanes, as other priorities come in and out of and focus. My desire to be more understanding, to understand, is something that I am and have been very interested in. I have put some tools in place to help me stay focused on this. For example, at my office, taped to the bottom of my computer monitor, bolded in 48-point font is the following phrase: “Ask don’t Assume”. This serves as a reminder to come at things from an open mind, an inquisitive and explorative stance. I find myself coming at things with a frame of reference of having an idea of what happened or what the situation is and going from there. This is not where I want to be. I want to have my reflex to be to ask, to seek information and knowledge, rather than assuming something else. I have made some gains in my mission, but certainly have much more room for growth with this. ONEWORD365 seems like just the opportunity to continue my growth and journey with this in a more focused and intentional way.
So, I am making a commitment to understand, to understand individuals, their experiences, and their perspectives. This journey will take a lot of effort, a lot of focus, a lot of opening my mind, a lot of listening more and talking less. I will blog weekly on my journey. Writing for me has always been a way to more deeply explore and give meaning to my experiences and the world around me. So, here, I begin my ONEWORD365 journey to understand.
Until next time,
Robin.
myonewordjourney 