Word Play

Each year, when I start to explore my one little word, I begin by just . . . playing around with the word itself.

What does it look like?
How does it sound?
What does it mean?

I look for quotes, and begin a collection. I listen to music, and I start a playlist. I seek out poems and books and symbols. Sometimes I start some sort of journal, and sometimes I don't.

(This year, I did.)

It's a nice way to - gently - invite my word into my world.

Lately, I've been thinking about all the ways my word - root - comes up in my everyday thoughts and language. As a gardener, I regularly think about/talk about roots as they pertain to things that grow, so my initial thoughts started there . . . in the garden.

Healthy roots.
Root systems.
Pulling up weeds from the root.
Digging up and dividing and transplanting roots.
Fertilizing the roots.
Watering at the roots.
How plants take root.

But . . . root . . . doesn't stop with gardening!

My daughter had a root canal back in December. So there's the teeth kind of root.
There are the tell-tale gray roots of someone who dyes their hair.
We've seen (first-hand, lately) . . . that trust is at the root of democracy.
And we've all heard that money is the root of all evil.

We like to get at the roots of a problem.
And, of course, many of us want to find our roots by connecting with our ancestry.
We develop close ties to our personal environments by putting down roots in a community.
Roots can also be that essential core - or heart - of something, as in . . . the root of their relationship was a shared love of [insert thing here].

There are square roots, in math.
Root words, in language.
Root directories, in computer science.

We dig around and root out whatever is . . . underneath.
We root for our favorite teams.
We open our root chakras.
And, of course, we root-to-rise in yoga!

I've had a lot of fun playing around with my word this month!

Now . . . I'm ready to dig in and get to work.

==

How about you? Have you been exploring your word yet?

Be sure to hop on over to Carolyn's this week. She's hosting our monthly word round-ups this year with a link-up.

 

 

Comments

[Kat]

Ooo! I like this fun start! Wordplay at its finest! :)

I love "I am rooted, but I flow" that is a great quote to start your journey!

[Patty]

Oh my favorite (not) root cause analysis! I love what you've done here. My word is consider...so I'm doing that so far! :-) And eat more plants, do more yoga...I have done that recently! xo

[Vera]

So many possibilities here Kym. It is nice to see the fun you are having with this. (No word for me this year though.)

[Carolyn]

Oh my gosh--there is SO MUCH to root! Each time I read a new one on your list, it was an 'Ah! Of course! What fun to read them all. I can imagine what a good time it was discovering them all--and creating that attractive journal. Here's to your year.

[Carole]

Root sure shows up in a lot of ways, I love how you are including so many of them in the start of your journey.

[kathy b]

My ROOTS are showing. Im daring to color my own hair tomorrow

[Sarah]

I've got another one for you -- a baby rooting for milk!

I haven't done this kind of word play (yet) with my word, but I think it will be fun to do so. It's so easy to forget that many words have multiple meanings and can have different connotations in different contexts.

[Margene]

The way you delve into your word and pull out its meanings and add them into your life is exciting to watch. Your journal looks like great fun. Some years it feels as if i can just follow your journey into my own understanding.

[Mary]

oh Kym, the word nerd in me sees the word nerd in you and says thank you! also, I love the journal.

[Jane]

I love word play. You are off to a great start. By the way, I think we all need to play more.