Word of 2022: HEART

You got heart, kid.

That’s what Captain America said to Spider-Man after he drops a jet bridge on him in Captain America: Civil War.

Okay, so I didn’t intentionally choose a word based on a random Spider-Man reference, but this kind of fits. That is the vibe I’m going into this new year with. You got heart, kid

I went in circles finding this right word this year. What did I want to do? How do I want to feel? What would a good touchstone be for the next twelve months?

I journaled. I brainstormed. I kept getting stuck. There’s been some bad news lately. Family health issues. Pandemic spikes. Canceled plans. But there are things to look forward to this year. Weddings and trips and beginnings.

In the final days of the year, I wrote myself into the word “heart”. What a wide word to choose. A million interpretations. Here’s mine:

I want to know what’s in it; I want to show what in it

I want to fortify it. I want to leave it wide open.

I want it to ground me when I falter. I want it to keep beating if it bleeds.

I want to wear it on my sleeve.

So when I say heart, I mean character. I mean love. I mean resilience. I mean passion. I mean vulnerability. I want it to show up in the stories I tell and the work I do and the relationships I build. I would probably classify myself as a pretty open-hearted person right now, but there are pieces of myself that I know I’ve kept guarded and they’re started to weigh me down. I want to find my way through that.

I want to keep loving things a whole lot.

In 2022, I don’t know what’s to come. I want to keep meditating. I want to draft another book. I want to query my current running book and find an agent. I want to have active and mindful routines that make me feel alive and strong and myself. I want to go camping with my friends and officiate their wedding. I want to be a good leader and work towards becoming a great one. I want my work to matter. I want to keep growing. I want to have days of rest and peace. Time by the water. Fires in the fireplace. Good meals with good people.

I want to start a family of my own. We’ll see what 2022 brings.

The heart is an arrow. It demands aim to land true.

Leigh Bardugo

So this will be my touchstone. Hand over my chest. Beating beneath every breath. Come what may this year, I’ll have heart.

With Love,
Natalie