My word for 2023 was/is Expansion.

The fun thing about setting a word for the year is that I’m never sure where it’s going to go – much more exciting than resolutions and clear set goals!

I’ve felt expansion in a lot of areas of my life – as a mother, as a coach, as a business owner, as a sister, as a wife, as a daughter and in all of my many other roles. As I lean more into who I be, I find that how I define myself has grown.

And this last couple of weeks, I’ve been working on creating more space in my life. Space is not only the final frontier astronomically, it is also a frontier on planet Earth. I’m exploring how my life and schedule can feel more spacious. I’ve tried to create more space by setting aside time for me on the weekends, going to bed earlier and doing something fun and frivolous vs. doing something that has an ROI. I have felt like the air around me has gotten less dense. It is a little easier to move about my day. I have more room to spread out, to expand if you will.

My experience this year is another endorsement of choosing a word for the year instead of resolutions.

In previous years, I’ve held a word of the year class in January. Are you in?

As I look ahead to the rest of the year, I recall the saying that we overestimate what we can do in one day and we underestimate what we can do in one year.

My sense of time is otherworldly. I very often fail to complete my daily to-do lists because I pile it all on. And then when I look back on the year as I have been casually this past week, I realize how many iterations of myself have existed and what I have been able to accomplish.

Each day, we are moving. Some days, it is ten steps forwards and other days, it is just staying still so we don’t get knocked backwards. Wherever and whatever has been done this year, you are doing it. Don’t lose sight of the fact that you are 300+ days more you than were when you started 2023.

I took some time for myself this morning and I thought that I’d go to the gym. I changed into my clothes, grabbed my water bottle and gave a heads up to the kids. I got into the car, drove to the gym, parked and got out. After five steps, I stopped, realizing that I never changed out of my new slipper boots that are so warm and toasty.

I couldn’t go home because I knew I’d get stuck there. So I chose to head to my favorite café instead.

As I was getting ready at home, I debated on going to the gym or to the café. I thought that I should go to the gym and so I made the efforts to do so. But my subconscious had other plans.

Our subconscious will always win because no matter how present we think we are, one little slip, one little moment of taking our eyes off the prize, the subconscious will slide right in to make the decisions for us.

This is not about using the conscious mind to take over the subconscious. I don’t think that can be done. Instead, we’ve got to retrain our subconscious, shift our identities and then we can work with the subconscious.

It’s okay to take a break. Breaks give us space. Space for settling, space for invitations, space for breath.

And space for others to breathe as well. For them to feel their own space to settle, to receive and to better discern.

Our most seemingly selfish acts may actually serve others just as much.

The irony of my staying up until 1:30 to put a turkey in the oven so I can save time during Thanksgiving Day is not lost on me.

It seems we are constantly re-prioritizing and trading time, attention and sleep.