Struggling to decide on your word of the year?

Do this....

2023 for me begun with an ADHD diagnosis. Which, although not unexpected still felt monumental for me. Years of berating myself for not being able to do things, or trying desperately to mask my true feelings for fear of being told I was too much or too sensitive, meant that I was exhausted. Coupled with my constantly running brain, throw a couple of kids into the mix, a part time job and running my own business, for me 2023 quickly became the year I needed to simplify my life.

Getting that diagnosis was like a green light to examine and strip back all of the things that didn’t bring me joy in both my life and my business.

My brain works best when it has space and I had jammed my life so full of activities, socialising, working and caregiving that there was zero space. It’s no wonder I was feeling so overwhelmed and cranky.

I took a long hard look at my life and decided on what was really important for me- fun with family and friends, spending more time in my garden (and supporting others to), earning money in a fun and flexible way. And supporting my body to work with my brain rather than against it, through swimming, pilates and nourishing it with healthy, delicious food.

It’s taken a whole year but I’ve finally designed a life that helps me to feel better and allows me to fit in the things that are important to me around all the other things I am responsible for.

This is the power of having a word of the year. It gives you that filter to run every decision you make through it.

Every time a new invitation or opportunity presented itself, I’d ask myself ‘Will this bring me joy?’ And then ‘Is this helping me simplify my life?’. If it didn’t move me towards more joy and a simpler life it was a hard no.

There’s no hard a fast rule for deciding on your word of the year. Mine often presents itself to me when I carve out a bit of space for myself to reflect on the year gone by and think about what is important to me. It invariably pops into my head while i’m out in the garden pruning or weeding, or sowing seeds.

So if you’re struggling to decide on yours, it’s likely because your head is so full of all the other things going on in your world right now. There’s nothing like some time in the garden to quiet your mind and allow you to find some clarity on what you want for the coming year. And I bet you your word will make itself known while you’re out there.

Not sure what you can be doing in your garden right now?

Upgrade to paid for less than a pound a week and dive straight in to this week’s mindful gardening activities. Carefully curated to reflect the season and the time you have available to garden. They are the things i’m doing in my own garden right now, so you’ll be in good company as we garden together 😊.

So what is my word of the year for 2024 I hear you ask………..Well my word of the year for 2024 is SHINE! Because having designed a life that I love, that allows me time and space in my garden which in turn gives me the headspace I was so desperately craving, I want to help as many other women as possible to do the same. And in order to do that I need to allow myself to shine.

To stop being afraid of others judgement, to allow myself to voice my opinions proudly without being scared of others differing opinions, to throw off the shackles that RSD (rejection sensitivity dysphoria) has kept me small inside and allow my bold, beautiful personality to shine.

So with that in mind i’m asking you for a favour. You have no idea how terrifying it is for me to ask this……

If you enjoy reading my words and/ or my weekly mindful gardening activities have helped you to take action in your garden and feel better for doing so, I’d be ever so grateful if you could:

Share this post with someone you think would love to spend more time tending to themselves and their plants this year.

Or share the Seed publication as a whole using this link.

When I say share, I mean as far and wide as you are able, on your insta stories, on your Facebook page, in the school mums WhatsApp group, with your sister, best friend, hell any woman you know that could do with a good dose of nature and some more time for her. (And let’s face it, that’s probably all of us!!)

If you’re feeling generous, once you’ve subscribed yourself of course, you could also:

If you have your own publication on Substack then I’d love for you to leave me a recommendation (like a review) with all the things you are enjoying about reading the Seed.

Here’s how to do it:

Please also do post a link to your publication in the comments so we can all read and support your words too!

All of these things will help me to support more women to take time for them in their gardens in 2024 and really SHINE my light.

And lastly, once you’ve taken that time for yourself in your garden doing one of this week’s mindful gardening activities and your word of the year has become clear for you. Do share it below so we can cheer you on as you live it!

With much love as ever,

Kendall xx