It has been a full year. Perhaps that is why I am just getting around to sharing my word of the year. I offer no explanations, no apologies. However, I wanted some record of this year. I have been quiet in this space, so I will share with you who are my faithful readers. I appreciate all of you so much!
The word I chose for 2023 is wellness. The definition I copied from Oxford Languages says, “the state of being in good health, especially as an actively pursued goal.” Health brings to mind physical well-being. I factored that into my goals this year. But, I wanted wellness in multiple areas of my life.
Here are a few highlights from my year of focusing on wellness: food to nourish both our senses and our bodies, accomplishing new things, and creating memories with those I love the most.
WINTER
Favorite Books:
Fast Like a Girl: A Woman’s Guide to Using the Healing Power of Fasting to Burn Fat, Boost Energy, and Balance Hormones
by Dr. Mindy Pelz
The Flirtation Experiment: Putting Magic, Mystery, and Spark into Your Everyday Marriage
by Lisa Jacobson and Phylicia Masonheimer
Leadership Not By the Book: 12 Unconventional Principles to Drive Incredible Results
by David Green with Bill High
The Boy in the Striped Pajamas
by John Boyne
To be happy at home is the ultimate result of all ambition, the end to which every enterprise and labor tends.
– Samuel Johnson (found in Tsh Oxenreider’s Commonplace newsletter)
SPRING
Favorite Books:
Every Woman a Theologian: Know What You Believe, Living in it Confidently, Communicate it Graciously
by Phylicia Masonheimer
I Don’t Have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist
by Frank Turek and Normal Geisler
Do not spoil what you have by desiring what you have not; remember that what you have now was once amongh the things you only hoped for.
– Epicurus, “Letters, Principal Doctrines, and Vatican Sayings” (Found in James Clear’s newsletter)
SUMMER
Favorite Books:
The Set Apart Woman: 30 Days of Grace-filled Thoughts From a Conservative Perspective by Valorie Quesenberry
No Mere Mortals: Marriage for People Who Will Live Forever by Toby Sumpter
Teatime Discipleship: Sharing Faith One Cup at a Time by Sally Clarkson
The Cross and the Prodigal: Luke 15 Through the Eyes of Middle Eastern Peasants by Kenneth E. Bailey
Well-ordered home is my chief delight, and the affectionate, domestic wife, with the relative duties which accompany that character, my highest ambition.
– Abigail Adams (found on Hearth and Field)
AUTUMN
Favorite Books:
Stop Calling Me Beautiful: Finding Soul-Deep Strength in a Skin-Deep World by Phylicia Masonheimer
The Warrior Poet Way: A Guide to Living Free and Dying Well by John Lovell
Find the beauty and joy in your daily rituals and you will find beauty and joy in your daily life. To love your habits is to love your days, and to love your days is to love your life.
– James Clear, author of Atomic Habits
No season is forever, but we are called to live well in the one we’re in.
– Phylicia Masonheimer’s newsletter