Tag: Word of the year

Ending The Year with Flourish

I love this time of year. Not just because it’s the holidays and the decorations and the festiveness of the season. But because it’s a time to reflect on all that’s happened this year. A time to review what took place. A time to plan for the next year. That’s why I titled this post ending the year with flourish.

I usually write a summary for our Christmas card on all the family has been doing this year. In my writing world, I like to fill out a summary of all that I accomplished and learned, both good and not so great. Usually the list is better than I realize, so it’s a good exercise. (I’m just starting with it as I write this blog post, so thank you, A Slice of Orange, for giving me a deadline).

I also assess my word of the year. For 2025 it has been Flourish. I have a word journal and I did not write in it very much this year. Not because I didn’t have anything to say, but because I was busy flourishing and didn’t have as much time as I have had in past years.

Why Flourish?

First, let’s dive into what the word was about for me. If you look at synonyms for flourish, you get a feel for what I was focusing on this year.

Bloom. Thrive. Blossom. Brandish. Wave. Curlycue. Grow.

I wanted to flourish in my walk with God, my relationships, my writing, my work, and my health. I also wanted to help others flourish.

My previous years were Grow (2024), and Change (2023) and this built on that. I was ready to flourish. And I feel like I did just that.

How did I flourish?

In my personal life, I’ve added strength training into my workout regimen. I’ve stabelized some health issues I had been dealing with. My contract day job went permanent. My husband and I celebrated our 30^th anniversary and took a three week trip to Europe together. We’ve been able to get together with many friends and family. In fact, tonight we are celebrating my father-in-law’s 90^th birthday and earlier this year we celebrated their 65^th wedding anniversary. We’ve hosted a lot of family get togethers this year.

Writing specific end of year flourish

Since this is a writer’s blog, I won’t share more personal things, but dive into my writing list. Here’s a few things I would add under flourish for 2025:

• I released two books in 2025 – A Slight Change of Plans and No Plan at All
• My debut novel, When Plans Go Awry, was announced as a Carol Award Finalist
• I wrote the fourth book (for a 2026 release)
• I ran my first GoodReads giveaway
• I participated in 11 bookfunnel promotions
• I participated in a book club with eleven other new-to-me authors
• I participated in a round robin email exchange and gained more subscribers (crossing the 500 threshold)
• I sent out one newsletter a month
• I attended two writing conferences
• I’ve reviewed countless entries from my critique group
• I judged entries for two different contests
• I posted all 12 months on Slice of Orange Blog (here’s my archive link to my own posts – you can actually see where I flourished as things were happening)
• I posted 6 blog posts on my own website
• I’m currently writing a reader magnet
• I put together a proposal for 3 more books and am starting to write the first chapters to submit to my publisher
• I stretched myself to make reels on social media, more graphics

Well, wow. I hadn’t written all these out until now (and I keep thinking of ideas to capture – sorry the list got so long). That’s a pretty cool list. I think I did a lot of things that would fit in the flourish category.

How about you? What all happened in your life this year? Did you write new words? Complete a story? Pitch a story? Attend a workshop? Serve on a committee?

What comes next?

When I write out the rest of my 2025 review, I will include things that didn’t work as well. Tracking that is important too. It helps you know what not to focus on. Our time is limited and the choices we make with how we spend it matters.

To wrap things up, it’s been a great year. I’m very thankful for all of it. And have tried to enjoy every minute the best I can. Sometimes I was a little overwhelmed (okay, maybe a lot working a fulltime job, writing, and juggling family commitments). 

Based on all of those things, I’m learning toward a word for 2026 that might help me in other areas of my life. We shall see. I’m still figuring out what that word will be. Stay tuned for my January post or watch for it on instagram or facebook once we head into the new year.

Other flourishing things

For now, I’ll leave you with a few Bible verses I had chosen for the word Flourish.

“In his days may the righteous flourish and peace abound, till the moon is no more.” Psalm 72:7

“As for man, his days are like grass. As a flower of the field, so he flourishes”  Psalm 103:15

“May the LORD cause you to flourish, both you and your children”  Psalms 115:14

And a few other quotes I found with the word Flourish in them

‘Who do you think you are?’ That’s the big one, isn’t it? A flourishing life depends on how you answer that.  Robert Fulghum

When we tend to the areas of life that are important to us, when we make those things a priority, that’s when we will flourish in those areas.  Victoria Osteen

There are two ways of being creative. One can sing and dance. Or one can create an environment in which singers and dancers flourish.  Warren Bennis

To have produced a product where I had total creative control and see it flourish is like watching a baby grow.  Karrueche Tran

May your December be full of flourishing. I wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

My Word for 2023 is Change

My word for 2023 is change.

Why change?

This year will be some big changes in our family. And I hope to make some changes of my own.

What type of change?

First our family changes. With our youngest in his senior year of high school, we will be done volunteering and being involved with high school activities come June. I will miss it. Supporting all the kids, cheering at choir, theater, and other events, and hanging out with other parents. Three kids and 10 years at the same school (for our 3 sons), it will be weird to say goodbye. 

But with goodbye, is the opportunity to spend more time on my writing endeavors. To change my writing process, my manuscript, and my writing time. And hopefully do a little more travel and exploring with my hubby. I’m super excited about that. 

Researching My 2023 Word Change

I like to explore and research my word, finding quotes and phrases that support why I chose the word I did. What I found encouraged me even more that this was the perfect word for me in 2023.

I’m at a place where I know I need to change things in my manuscript to take it to the next level. And I’m ready to do it. After a lot of work (my word in 2022), reviewing and evaluating the entire novel, I know what I need to work on. And embracing change instead of being fearful of it, is how it’s going to get done.

Here’s to a year of change!

Denise M. Colby loves to choose a new word each year and then share what she learns about it. She wrote about her 2022 word, work, in her latest blog post, and created a highlights page for her 2020 word of the year courage on her website.