A three word mantra to guide the coming year.
The practice of not making New Year's resolutions.
It feels as now might be the right time to waken my Substack identity and see if I can bring it to life. The first day of the year is one when I share my three word mantra for the coming year, and it seems fitting that this can be a good start to Substacking…
The three word mantra is a practice which I stumbled upon on 31 December 2009. I was in a studio apartment in Bangkok, a short walk from the hospital where I was being treated for breast cancer. That is a whole other back story, which is told in detail on my blog - Feisty Blue Gecko.
On that Hogmanay evening, I was trying to distract myself from thoughts of the next chemotherapy cycle a couple of days later, and scrolling through social media. My attention was caught by a Tweet from a friend saying that she would not be making any New Year Resolutions, but would rather be selecting three words which would guide her through the coming year. This idea resonated instantly with me and I had very soon come up with my own three words for the year. It was a perfect mantra, motivating and encouraging me through what I knew would be a tough year, with a further six months of treatment ahead before I could focus on getting my life and health back on track. My three words were - “recovery, discovery and laughter” and I wrote about them on 1 January 2010.
The following year, I found myself reflecting on how powerful this process was of choosing the three words and holding them close through the year. The three word mantra has since been an important element of my life and this morning I shared my three word mantra for 2024, the 15th set of words which have guided me since Hogmanay of 2009.
In the coming weeks, I plan to retrace my steps through the past years as told by each of the three word mantras which have accompanied me. But for now, I am happy to share the words which I have gently set into the world to guide and inspire me through 2024:
