[Aside: Back in my preaching days, I wrote an entire sermon based upon the text of P.D. Eastman’s book, Go Dog. Go! I’m sure it’s scriptural, too.]
I read several books on the topic of happiness last year. One of them was The Happiness Project, by Gretchen Rubin. (Great book, BTW.) Since reading it, I’ve been keeping up with her blog and following her on Twitter. These activities led me to her post this morning that gives a quick overview of Daniel Pink’s ideas on the “new” kind of elevator speech. I started Pink’s new book, To Sell is Human, just last night. No doubt, it will be the subject of a future post, but I digress…
After reading Rubin’s post from this morning, I clicked on the link to a related item she wrote back in December of 2010 called, “Choose One Word to Set the Tone for Next Year”. As I found myself back in the cubicle this morning, working my way back into the post-holiday, working mindset, I thought about what one word I would choose for myself for 2013. Here are a few that came to mind:
- Green (I got a juicer for Christmas, so I was thinking more of green drinks than the environment.)
- Sing! (If only life was a musical.)
- No Fear! (Two words and already taken by my loony, fitness-crazed, twitter friends, @drsherrypagoto, @mbfgmike, and @bewellboston. I’ll let them keep it.)
- Sugar (As in, “watch it!”)
- Data (Heaven help me.)
As I thought more about some of the things I’ve set for myself to accomplish this year (learn a new song each week, build “Wheelie Good”, spend more time in the studio, etc.), I realized that pretty much any hope or idea or goal that I have for the coming year involves one thing, or better said, can be summed up in one word – GO!
So, there it is. That’s my word for 2013. GO! (In all caps, bold, italicized, and red.)
I’m going to remember my word in those moments when I don’t know how to do something, when I don’t know exactly how to solve a problem, when I have a task ahead of me that I’m not too fond of, when I hit a particularly sticky few bars in one of my new songs… I’m just going to say to myself, GO! Get on it! Get to it!
I’m not talking “bull in the china shop” GO!, and I don’t want to be like (or steal from) a certain very large sporting goods manufacturer that tells us to “Just Do It!”, but I do want to be like those dogs in one of my favorite books of childhood (and adulthood). I want to GO!
Alison Gregory and Steven Dietz wrote a children’s play based upon Eastman’s classic and in their preview guide for parents and teachers wishing to put on a production of it, they state that in his own way, Eastman provides us a timeless classic that “honors the joyous simplicity of the world around us”. Of course, it also has great reference to dog anarchy and dog parties in trees and dogs in fancy hats! What’s not classic about that?!
In other words, my word GO! is going to be about paying attention, taking note, acting on the little things that may (or may not) lead to bigger ones. I’m going to do this in work and in play. I’m going to adopt this with family and friends. I’m going to GO!
GO SALLY. GO!
How about you? What’s your word for the new year? Share them in the comments section below. GO on. Do it!
A Librarian by Any Other Name 
Always so inspirational! I guess my word will be “network”. As in patiently building a network of graduate students and researchers so I can eventually add a research informationist component to my job. It does involve a lot of GO! too!
Great word, Natalie!! Librarians are perfectly positioned to network, imho. Good luck with it!
Fantastic web site. Lots of useful information here. I am sending
it to a few pals ans also sharing in delicious. And naturally,
thank you for your sweat!