After a few weeks in the USA where winter weather meant that the sun was not to be seen for several days, I found myself appreciating the sunshine that I take for granted when I’m home. 

In sunny Singapore, my day began with warm daylight streaming into my bedroom despite thick curtains. And it filled me with hope and positivity. It didn’t take long for the circulation in my feet to be restored. My toes loved being free of those ugly thick socks I wore to save them from frostbite (just kidding, although it felt like it). My open-toed sandals are my best friends now and I don’t go anywhere without them. 

Maybe it was the sunshine or the joy of being back home or just the feeling that I should do something special to mark the new year but I felt called to pick a Word of the Year. I have seen others do it and I have dabbled in it before too, except that I didn’t really follow it through.

For 2022, I have chosen SAVOR as my WORD of the year. Also spelt as savour, for the spelling police amongst you.

My experience of a painful health condition from last year was not far from memory and returning home after a five week break brought back everything associated with that excruciating phase from the not so distant past. Prior to the hard brake placed by my body, I had been zipping through life, getting things done and always churning for as long as I could remember.

In 2022 I would like to slow down a bit and take a few moments to engage with whatever it is I am doing, observing, thinking.

To me SAVOR means being present and mindful as I interact with the world around me.

I am not sure what form it will take in the coming days, weeks and months. Perhaps it will be

• Looking more intently at what’s in front of me
• Listening more deeply – to myself and others
• Feeling more integrated with my surroundings
• Sipping (not gulping) my morning cup of tea
• Breathing deeply between tasks

In a bit of a reverse from the lofty goal setting that has marked previous years I am planning to slow down. And like any hyper person, ‘slow’ doesn’t go well with my psyche.

So SAVOR it is. Tricking my mind into thinking I’m doing something new and cool while I am actually easing up.

Smart right? 

Battle between savoring and being efficient

When I chose my word of the year as ‘savor’ I had no idea that things would get so ugly, so quickly. Turns out (not surprisingly) that the ‘efficiency’ monster who drives me has a problem with ‘savoring’.  Clearly, I must be slacking off, if I am not moving fast enough through my to-do list. 

Picking a delicious word like ‘savor’ while on holiday is not the same as sticking with it in the familiar environs of home where things need to get done. 

And so the battle began soon after I boldly declared my word of the year out loud. 

Over the weekend, I visited my favorite place on the island of Singapore – the regional library at Jurong. Of course I had places to be and things to do before and after the library visit. But I wanted to put my commitment to ‘savor’ the moment to test.

Instead of rushing in as I always do, I chose to take a detour. I stopped at Cage Galilee located close to the library entrance. I ordered a flat white coffee and picked up a piece of orange cake and took a seat by the window.

I saw youngsters, couples and families with children walk in and out of the library with bags full of books. Two little girls were parked on the stairs going through their book haul, eager to get started.

The coffee was strong, the cake sweet and the whole experience took no more than 15 mins.  Although I took a quick photo, I didn’t look at my phone while I sipped or plug in my earphones to continue with the audiobook that I had been listening to on the way over. I looked around at the bustling cafe and out through the window as buses turned around in the bus interchange across the road.

Despite setting an intention to read the books I had bought on my recent trip first, before borrowing more from the library, I already had a list of books to check out.  And who knew what other treasure I would find in the stacks.

I savored the thought along with my coffee.

A good start to the year, I think. Stealing a few minutes to savor the experience of going to the library, much to the dismay of the efficiency monster.

Wish me luck as I try to stick to my word while battling other enemies. 

Do you pick a word of the year? If yes, what is your word. If not, don’t fret – the year will go by as quickly as it always does.