For my 54th birthday this year I decided to create a list of words—54 words—that I love or that I find interesting and/or memorable. Words that for me right now have particular meaning. Some of these words are silly and linked to memories from my distant past (elbow, umbrella) and some have been with me for a long, long time (story, yellow, gratitude and imagine) and still others are feeling especially right, right now (essence, home, rest and remember) I thought rather than just listing my words I would present them in a more visually pleasing way, so I used wordclouds.com to assemble them in a heart shape. I also shared these words on the most recent episode of my podcast—you can find the show notes and the link HERE, or you can listen on iTunes or other podcast apps.

The older I get the more I want to pause and reflect—around my birthday each year. Life moves fast and I want to be present as often as I can. This word project helped me slow down a little and take stock. I kept my words in the Notes app on my iPhone. At first I was just adding whatever came to mind, but then the list grew and I had to start negotiating and choosing and playing with the words to make sure each one was in fact a keeper. This was a weeks long process—which I loved because it was a way to step outside of me and all the busyness for a moment here and a moment there and recognize how good life is, how much it has taught me and how very grateful I am for this continuing journey.

I’m ready! Let’s do this 55 …