For the past few years I have participated in the social media initiative around One Little Word or #OLW, but if you were to ask me TODAY what words I’d selected in previous years, I wouldn’t be able to tell you.
Those words were clearly unimpressionable.
Choosing #OLW was supposed to replace the much maligned New Year’s resolutions that start off with good intentions, peter out before the end of January, and are quickly forgotten in February. However, my #OLW’s were not any more successful than my New Year’s resolutions in helping me live a healthier, happier and more productive year. Wasn’t that always the purpose in sweating over just the right wording of your New Year’s resolutions or finding the precise #OLW?
What always unhinged me when selecting that perfect #OLW was that other people seemed to do really well with theirs, so why couldn’t I? How come my life wasn’t being transformed in the same way other #OLW enthusiasts claimed in their very effusive blog posts? How come I didn’t feel the same attraction and devotion to my #OLW as other teacher friends?
The process of choosing my #OLW was always painful. I agonized for days over the “perfect” word, yet it never seemed to surface for me. And, when I finally picked my #OLW, it sounded forced; the blog posts were strained and insincere.
Let’s face it: I was a fake.
So, this year, as I think about that perfect, idyllic, unique #OLW, I am once again confronted with the difficulty of New Year’s routines, such as resolutions and one little words. Unless I truly meditate and reflect on these every day of the year, they are meaningless exercises in social media pop culture. And, if there’s something I know for sure it’s that I don’t want to participate in to-me cutesy, ineffective activities. Therefore, my New Year’s resolution is simple: stay true to myself. My #OLW: Truth.
What about you? Any New Year’s Resolutions or #OLW? Share in the comments section below.
Disclaimer: It is not my intention to disparage the #OLW movement, only to make sense of what I think is a potentially useful exercise for setting goals and intentions for the new year.
Note to self: Remember that writing always reveals that which is hidden. If I hadn’t written this post, I wouldn’t have arrived at what truly matters to me.
Thank you Two Writing Teachers for sponsoring the Tuesday #SOL Challenge.
Elisa Waingort 
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