My word for 2011

It seemed to begin almost as a cyber/blog/novelty. It seemed to catch on as a 'thang' people were doing online. Then a wonderful transformation occured. This quasi-novelty-cyber/blog-'thang'  evolved into something real. Something of importance. It grew into a thoughtful, introspective shared journey. Words are being chosen all over cyber-blog-dom. Most fascinating to me are the stories, goals, dreams, passions, worries, hopes, flights of the human heart explanations that encircle the choice of each chosen word. Neat.

Not being one for new year resolutions the 'one word that does (or you want to) mean something for the entire year ' drew me in.  But only ONE word? Nearly impossible for me. Even harder for me than Haiku or Tweeting, lol. That took a bit of pondering. Let me say it again.

                                                   
                                                         Choose one single word. 

(this would be where anyone who know me begins - understandably - to laugh. Heartily.)

But I've done it. I've chose one word.  One single word for 2011.   

Bokeh

(you weren't expecting a normal word from ME, were you?!??)

Oddly this photography term fits my goal for 2011 perfectly.

**I've been immersed in photography as a hobby all my life. But for non-photo-geeks bokeh is the blur & the aesthetic quality of the blur in out- of-focus areas of an image**  A quick google of the term will pull a wealth of beautiful examples till I can place one here on the post.

What bokeh whispers to me is this:  Learn to stop, breathe, listen and look at all the parts of any and everything and appreciate the good aspects of the 'out of focus' (read out of control or unplanned) aspects of each project, goal, event, plan, emotion, success, failure, day, dream.

I am so inclined to line my ducks up in a row.  I even have suggestions on how they should quack. And in what order they should quack. I focus (no photography pun intended) so intensely on the core of whatever I'm doing that much of the surrounding detail, enjoyment, success even, blurs....  I don't appreciate the 'blur' ~ the bokeh ~ for the depth it could and would add if only I'd notice.  Much the same with failures. No unsuccessful event is totally without a plus on the outer edges.  Whatever didn't work out the way I planned or expected is always surrounded in a haze of information, secondary possibility and the (not infrequent) truth that I am/was ultimately happier with the winding ways of fate not giving me what I went after.

I know intellectually there's warm, exciting, fascinating, comforting depth to everything that happens in the surrounding bokeh~haze. Those extra layers may be nearly invisible or blurry but they're there and are worth taking the time, making the effort to appreciate. 

You'll be seeing the word bokeh weave its way thru my writings often this coming year as I try to learn to appreciate all things that are out of focus in 2011. I think these layers surrounding everyday life, every event, are equally - if not more - beautiful and important because of their softened 'made you look' haze.

So that's MY word.

What's yours?