By Golly, Ollie!

💾 a blog about books, tea, & geekery

Tag: word of the year

A single word that I want to embody in the new year

  • Word of Intent: Joy

    Word of Intent: Joy

    The last memory I have of 2020 is Oliver kicking me in the back as he tried to keep himself from falling asleep. I don’t know who dozed off first– him or me– but when I woke up, it was 2:30 AM in 2021. I missed the opportunity to say “so long, sucker!” to 2020 and usher in the New Year with a strange sense of optimism.

    Normally, I have a long list of resolutions that I post this time of year, and ultimately all are abandoned by the end of January, so this year I decided to forego that and instead adopt a word of intent. I tried to do this last year, but ironically, the word I chose for 2020 was “explore”.

    In 2021, I am embracing the word “Joy”. Something I wish I would have done more in 2020, especially as the year dragged on and the negative echo chamber of the internet got louder. Moments of joy were always there. I just didn’t slow down and really appreciate them.

    We are only a few weeks into 2021, but joy has filled my days in so many ways. Like, having actual time off from work, so I didn’t have to juggle that work-at-home-mom life again while Oliver was on Christmas vacation. Like adopting a new habit of drinking at least one cup of tea outdoors each day to enjoy a peaceful moment in the fresh air. Like finally having someone to sip tea with because as it turns out, my husband has a taste for sheng pu’erh.

    On this day, I was going to take a moment to decompress with a cup of sencha because green teas embody those weightless, warm and sunshine days that I miss right now. But, I found joy in a cup of the Forest blend from Tea Spectral instead.

    Not even trying to imply Ollie painted “mom”. I painted; he dumped glitter everywhere.

    Forest is a blend of black tea, orange peel, cinnamon, sage, juniper berries, and natural and artificial flavor. The scent of juicy orange dominates the dry leaf, and it steeps up to a burnt orange or amber color.

    The first infusion was sipped while Oliver and I worked on arts and crafts. The tea was tart and juicy orange against subtle earthy sage and cinnamon. Each sip was vibrant and matched the energy of a toddler armed with a paintbrush and a tube of gold glitter. The second infusion was softer. One where all the flavors were present, including refreshing pine from the juniper berries. It accompanied me as I cleaned up art supplies while Oliver settled quietly in the living room, filling me with false hope that he was getting ready to take a nap.

    I find myself reaching for this blend on snow-quiet afternoons when the warmth and coziness of my home threatens to lull me into a nap. It also pairs nicely with fantasy novels with richly crafted worlds, like the Lord of the Rings.

    Did you set any resolutions or words of intent for yourself this year? Tell me about them in the comments!

    Thirsty? Why not try the Forest blend from Tea Spectral?

    Already tried the Forest Blend from Tea Spectral? Check out some of these tasTEA recommendations:

  • Word of the Year: Explore

    Word of the Year: Explore

    I have had this thought in the back of my mind nagging me for the past couple of weeks. I hoped I could just keep it buried there amongst forgotten To-Do Lists, knowledge only suitable for trivia games, and abandoned dreams, but it keeps bubbling up to the surface during the quiet moments of my day, begging me to address it. Lately, I have read a lot of posts about embracing a word of the year. It’s one little word that embodies how you want to move forward (or perhaps slow down and stand still) in the new year, and I realized, I have a word that needs to be embraced too.

    Explore (verb)

    1. to travel to a new place to learn about it or become familiar with it
    2. to search and discover; learn about
    3. to think and talk about something to find more about it

    There have been small signs popping up around By Golly, Ollie! that “explore” is meant to be my word of intent for 2020. I write about diving deeper down the rabbit hole of tea and finding ways to bring more enrichment into family life in my 2020 Resolutions post. I write about experimenting with writing what makes me happy in Silencing the Internal Pressure to be the Blogger I’m Not. I even mention in my sidebar that one purpose of this blog is to reflect on personal rediscovery one cup of tea at a time (which, btw, I’m drinking a cup of Gyokuro right now).

    But, “explore” is a scary word for an introvert like me. First of all, it’s a verb, an action word, and most days I’m perfectly content curling up on the couch with a cup of tea and watching Netflix, thankyouverymuch. Second, it’s one of those words that challenge me to be present in the world when it feels safer and more comfortable being hidden away. I’m not meant to be hidden away though. As much as the hermit inside tries to convince me I am, I know in my core that I am supposed to exist out there, shiny and effervescent and vibrant. I mean seriously, my star sign is a Leo. I’m not meant to be caged; I gotta stretch these gams!

    So 2020 is the year of exploration. A year of exploring tea. A year of exploring writing. A year of finally exploring my community. A year of exploring activities and playgroups to bring enrichment to Oliver’s life. A year of exploring who I am becoming.

    Do you embrace a word of the year or a word of intent? Tell me about it in the comments! If you haven’t embraced a word, join me in exploration!