2009 Word-of-the-Year: CELEBRATE

Note: December (and early January!)  is Word-of-the-Year Month at Christine’s Blog. As we roll into another New Year, each day will feature a new guest author who chose one word as a way of setting intention for her whole year. Today’s guest is Suzanne Gochenouer. More about Suzanne below.

Celebrate was my theme for 2009, something I have done far too little of in years past.

At the end of 2008, I was stuck in a negative place I had unwittingly created for myself.  Late in the previous year, I signed a contract to have my kitchen renovated.  It could not have been a worse time, as the economy took its steep and long plunge almost immediately after.  To save money I decided to do many parts of the project myself, knowing that after twenty years of chronic pain and migraines, I would not have the stamina and strength to just power right through the project.

Coming into 2009, I had made barely any headway on the pages-long list of jobs I had to complete.  Worse, I had fallen into the habit of being very negative toward myself for not being able to accomplish everything more quickly.  I gave myself no credit for what I did start and finish, looking only at the long list of what I had not yet done.

As I reflected on what I wanted to create in my new year, I realized I had to Celebrate each accomplishment no matter how large or how small.  It was incredibly hard at first, to turn my mindset of self-blame and disappointment into something positive.

When I finished the second coat of paint on the kitchen island, I celebrated that, and had to ignore the voice in my head telling me I still had to do the wood graining and the baseboard.

Getting the walls painted deserved another round of celebration.  It didn’t matter that it actually took me more than two months to complete the task.  What mattered was that I started, I persevered, and I finished.

In order to make my celebrations more meaningful I would find some small reward for myself.  Sometimes it was as simple as an ice-cold soft drink as I sat and relaxed.  Other times it was a purchasing a brand new book I had been waiting for, or calling a friend and meeting in town for lunch.

To my surprise, I discovered that the kinder I was to myself about what I could do, and the more I celebrated what I did do, the easier my tasks became.  I began to look forward to each new part of the project, and to the celebration that would follow.  I sang and danced as I worked because I felt good about what I did accomplish, and felt good about myself again.

Although the kitchen is still not finished, I look forward to the tasks to come.  There will be more celebrations in 2010, as I install the tile backsplash, reinstall the freshly painted cabinet doors, and move the very last piece of furniture back into the room where it belongs.

Celebrate is a word I intend to keep in my life.    When I use the new software I found to update my woefully out-of-date website, when I finish my novel, when I teach another workshop – I will Celebrate.  And I plan to Prosper in 2010 as I enjoy the fruits of my labors with many celebrations.

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Suzanne Gochenouer is a healer and a peacemaker.  She is a Reiki Master and uses the spiritual energy of essential oils in her practice of aromatherapy.  Suzanne teaches Chakra Energy workshops each year, writes novels (all unpublished so far, but that’s a celebration waiting to happen), reads voraciously, and is eager to get back to her artwork in the year ahead.  If you enjoyed this blog, please comment on it – it will encourage her to add a blog to her website as she recreates it in early 2010. Suzanne’s website – TOUCHED BY A SCENT.

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