WOTY 2023 banner
Posted on by Debbie

Sharing my Word of the Year #WOTY for 2023

My Word of the Year for 2022

As you probably know by now, over the past few years I have chosen a WOTY (Word of the Year) and I try to stick with it as a theme, or a focus, for the year ahead. It’s an intention rather than a resolution and I then I have fun during the year finding ways to use my word, writing a monthly wrap-up post. Sometimes I also set up a Spotify playlist of songs, or I find books that fit my word, or I take a photo of me enacting my word, or I l find quotes that remind me of what my word means to others. Whatever I do, I always have fun with my WOTY.

As an example: In 2020 my Word was Jump so every month I took a photo of me jumping – I say ‘I’ but in actual fact it was the long-suffering Mathematician who took the photo at my direction! Wherever I was that month I made sure to get a photo of myself jumping – mainly to prove that turning 60 that year wasn’t going to hold me back from doing physical things or having fun 🙂 I also had a playlist of all the songs I could find that had ‘jump’ in them and to this day that playlist makes me smile whenever I play it!

So here we are in 2023. Once again I’ve given some thought to what one word will set the course of the year ahead and I have chosen:

Explore

WOTY 2023 banner
WOTY 2023 Explore

This is a photo of me on top of Mt Kosciuszko a few years ago and shows me willing to explore new things. I virtually have the whole of Australia at my feet!

What does EXPLORE mean?

I’ve chosen a word that can mean a lot of different things – I tend to do that each year! Some of my followers have commented that I choose words they would never think of and I then put my own spin on it in ways they weren’t expecting! I like that 🙂

Explore can relate to creativity, food, ideas, travel, books, music, exercise, relationships, fun – it’s a word that exudes adventure and curiosity – and how I love these words! I’ll be exploring my options 🙂

  • to search and discover (about something)
  • to think or talk about something in order to find out more about it
  • to investigate, study, or analyze, look into something
  • travel through (an unfamiliar area) in order to learn about it
  • self exploration is a concept that interests me
  • being curious is a way to extend my knowledge
  • I can become Deborah the Explorer for the year ahead instead of the more well known Dora the Explorer. The Mathematician will roll his eyes at that one because my sense of direction can be a bit off at times and he won’t be following me if I’m leading the way!

Why do we explore? New experiences bring us new knowledge.

Why do I choose a WOTY?

This is a really fun way to set your intentions and theme for the New Year, or any other life event for that matter. Instead of a rigid New Year’s Resolution, a Word of the Year is a constant—yet gentle—reminder to focus on creating positive change.

Choosing a Word is different to setting a New Year’s resolution and I don’t find it as restrictive or punishing. Resolutions, or starting over, seem too much like hard work to me (or maybe I’m just getting lazy in my old age) and I find I just need to tweak a few things and keep my focus. Having a Word of the Year helps me do this. It also seems to say I’m not good enough the way I was and have to change myself, when in fact I know I’m good enough, I just need a few things to keep my focus.

Blogging is a passion and being brave enough to put myself out there is something that scares me but also makes me feel alive – at the same time!

Debbie from Deb’s World

Choosing a WOTY is a form of mindfulness and helps my well-being, not to get too new-agey about it all!

So what’s next?

I’m not exactly sure how it will go this year but I’ll try to have fun and incorporate a sense of adventure and exploration in all I do. I know I love to travel and we plan on doing some of that this year, so that’s a start!

As in previous years I will be reviewing my WOTY each month – what I’ve managed to explore, how I’ve been exploring and what more I can do to stay true to my WOTY. Any ideas from you will be very welcome – maybe some books, quotes or songs that say Explore to you – please let me know if you have any ideas for me. I’ll also try to incorporate a photo or two along the way. It’s a word brimming with potential!

I want my WOTY to help me stay curious and adventurous. Standing still in one spot for too long doesn’t cut it with me I’m afraid!

Exploration is curiosity put into action.

Dan Walsh

Previous Words

My WOTY in 2022 was GIFT – and it was another great word to focus on each month. My final post of the year summed it all up – The Gift of Age. I really took to finding the gift in everyday things, how I could be a gift to others and using my gifts in various ways.

My word for 2021 was BOLD and each month I wrote a post using the letters B.O.L.D to spell out how I was bold during the month. It made me accountable and gave me a focus to live a bold-er life and it was great fun to work out how being bold was impacting on me and others! And apparently I was an inspiration to some people – who would have thought?!

I always enjoy reading back over these previous posts to see what sparked my choices at the time. You can find my past words in these featured posts:

2022 – Gift

2021 – Bold

2020 – Jump

2019 – Time

2018 – Focus

2017 – New Horizons

What about you?

Do you do something similar each year? I’m interested to know what you do or what word you would choose? I know some of my fellow bloggers have chosen some great words already and look forward to seeing where they take them during the year.

Our new monthly linkup for 2023, will focus on What’s Been on Your Calendar #WBOYC and allows for word of the year updates as well as anything else you’ve been up during the month. The linkup goes live on Friday 27 January 2023 for seven days, so we hope you will join us. I’d better get out and do some exploring!

Bloganuary 2023

As a start I’ll be exploring the daily prompts of Bloganuary and today’s word (2 January) is Brave so I’m being brave and sharing this post with the Bloganuary community. I probably won’t post everyday but if the prompt appeals to me then I’ll be joining in – exploring my blogging world in more detail. How’s that for a start??

bloganuary
bloganuary

I’d also love to have you join me, either by sharing your WOTY in a comment or by following along with me. Also check out the Bloganuary links.

What else can I do with the word EXPLORE do you think?

Have a great day!

Deb xx

Latest Posts:

You can also find Deb’s World in lots of other places – stay in touch by clicking any of the buttons below.

Debbie - mother of a 40 year old

Everyone has a story to tell! Deb is a young-at-heart & active 60+ blogger/retiree, after being made redundant from her 22-year career managing education programs in a men’s correctional centre (jail). She now spends her time reading, blogging, riding her ebike and travelling. Deb was awarded a Bravery Award from the Queen when she was 17 after a tragic accident – a definite life changing moment! She is married with 3 grown-up daughters & has 4 grandchildren. She never imagined being Granny Debs would bring so much joy to her life! You can read more of Deb’s story here

Copyright © 2022 debs-world.com – All rights reserved

40 Replies to “Sharing my Word of the Year #WOTY for 2023”

    1. Thanks so much for your comment Sue, I think Explore will suit me well in 2023 and I must say I do love Deborah the Explorer 🙂

      I think Time is a fabulous word and you can do so much with it, you are very clever and creative – ye you are! Looking forward to another fun blogging year with your friendship.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  4. Hi Deb – love your new word and I’m looking forward to reading your updates on how you tease it out over the year ahead. I’ve loved WOTY since I first read about it – so much more fun than making and failing at resolutions!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  5. Hi, Deb – I always love following your WOTY posts. You are a true master in the art of incorporating your WOTY into your daily life and sharing that with us in creative and inspiring ways. Deb (TWBA) also selected ‘Explore’ as her WOTY this year. We just came back from an adventure together. Wishing you a wonderful 2023 of great exploring ahead!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Thanks Donna, I really enjoy the focus a WOTY gives me during the year and thinking up ways to relate it to my everyday life. My husband thinks I have far too much time on my hands 🙂 I can’t believe Deb and I chose the same word -how in-sync are we??

      Like

      Reply

  6. What a fabulous word Deb. And you’re right, EXPLORE is absolutely brimming with potential. Enjoy all the very creative ways I know you’re going to embrace it this year. Sending love and wishing you well. 💜

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  9. Deb, you picked a great word for this year. There are so many things and places to explore. Three that come to mind are to explore new authors, new recipes, and a place close to home you’ve never visited. Happy New Year!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  10. I love your choice of Word of the year!! Explore is a great word and there’s so much out there to explore. It will be so much fun to see what you share each month and I bet it will even more fun for you!
    After a lot of to-and-fro thinking, I decided for a word of the year. I hope to share it in Denyse’s link-up.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  14. I seriously adore how you pull your WOTY together each month and make the posts fun and uplifting. Love Deborah the Explorer x 2! North and South versions. How cool. Does your word chose you or do you ponder it? I am still pondering.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Oh Bernie, you are so lovely!! I usually have some insight or a flash comes to me with my word, I don’t think too hard about it that’s for sure! Can’t wait to see North Deb the Explorer comes up with this year 🙂

      Like

      Reply

  15. Happy New Year, Deb! I love how you explained your intentions with your WOTY. I can appreciate the fact that it’s not about being rigid or punishing. I’m all for that. I don’t like the idea of a New Year’s resolution. I just believe in striving to be the best person I can be. Explore, seems like a perfect WOTY for you. You seem like the adventurous type. I’d like to think I’m that way, as well. xxx

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  16. Hello Debbie! You can add me to the list of people that enjoy seeing the creative ways that you incorporate your WOTY into your life and your blog. Explore feels like a perfect fit for you, and I am looking forward to your monthly wrap-ups. I also prefer a WOTY or intention as opposed to New Year’s Resolutions. My word this year is “grounded.”

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

Let's keep the conversation going...

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:

Gravatar
WordPress.com Logo

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Cancel

Connecting to %s

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Blog at WordPress.com.
%d bloggers like this: