What's in a word?

Tori, who lives and writes just south of me in beautiful Maine wrote a post the other day about choosing a word to act as a thematic guide throughout the upcoming year.........a word which represented her personal goals and solutions for 2008. I thought it was an interesting idea. Tori chose the an all encompassing huggable word "embrace," defined:

1) to take or receive gladly or eagerly; accept willingly: to embrace an idea.

2) to avail oneself of: to embrace an opportunity

3) to take in with the eye or the mind.

4) to encircle; surround; enclose.

5) an act or instance of embracing.

I like it. It has open hearted, open minded possibilities. It can be applied to all parts of life, and to any and many goals I can think of.


After reading her post, I began to think of a word which would suit me........which could possibly be my guide. What I was seeking was something that could encapsulate the process of living in the moment in a multisensory manner. I wanted a word that signified possibility and potential personal growth. Off the top of my head, I thought of a few .......


alert, alive, appreciate, enlighten, mindful, balance, harmony, consciousness, recognize, experience, vital, compassion, learning..........



I liked all of these words, but they didn't completely win me over. Then, I let it stew a bit while I read various snippets and quotes I had written down over the course of the last couple of months that had resonated with me. Abraham Maslow of self actualization fame wrote....."what is necessary to change a person is to change his awareness of himself." Simply stated and yet his words have big implications and meaning, especially when one considers that he was the guru guy who gave the world the ladder and ingredients to heightened actualization. Again and again, we read that if we want to change, it has to come from within. We can't change anyone else.......we might represent the Big Kahuna down here on little bitty googley earth, but we ain't Him.........so changing our circumstances, selves, journey has to have it's genesis inside our gizzards, where the light switch dwells.


Meister Eckhart, a mystic extraordinaire with a really cool name, who blew people away live and in person not too long ago............a guy whose wisdom I am presently discovering piece by piece and through my reading am finding that wisdom is fleeting and connected to the exact moment when we learn something new only for us to realize that the process of learning this only reinforces how little we know........wrote, "Become aware of what is in you. Announce it, pronounce it, produce it and give birth to it."



Be aware of it and then share of it..............love that! If it can help me, it can help you...........if what I have learned can make a difference, I need to pull it all together. Isn't he also stating in that lovely little piece of mystic advice that to recognize your gifts in order to make them real, meaningful and vital, it has to be given it away? I become more aware of who I am if I share of myself.


That prolific monk, Thomas Merton whose head spinning (mine, not his) insights (his, not mine) have helped me contemplate, peramubulate, matisticate the very idea of grabbing hold of the holy joyful rope of faith, stated this little gem: “The whole idea of compassion is based on a keen awareness of the interdependence of all these living beings, which are all part of one another, and all involved in one another.”




Compassion, interdependence, connecting, sharing, declaring, knowing ourselves and others, working on learning and growth through internal change.......wow. Wouldn't that be great to find one open ended blooming word which could be used as an overall objective with these key guiding quotes as the foundation? Is there such a word?



yes, there is..............awareness.




interestingly, it is found most boisterous when all the other words are stripped away, and you are left with the silence of an aha moment.

• that makes you nod your head in recognition
• that feeds a sense of harmony
• that enlightens and makes you yearn for even more
• that frightens you into a feeling of insecurity
• that brightens your mind with stirrings of possibilities

Since the beginning of my blog experience, I have had the same word, the same concept guide me. Serving me while writing over 700 posts, "awareness" has been what I have continued to mine for. I will continue to let the words and guidance from that other mystic Priest, Anthony de Mello stated in the masthead of this blog guide me. I will hold it close as I continue on my rumbly stumbly journey.

Awareness is the lifelong goal. Awareness is the word for me.

"These things will destroy the human race: politics without principle, progress without compassion, wealth without work, learning without silence, religion without fearlessness, and worship without awareness....."

Anthony de Mello