One Word 2013: Define It

Have you picked your word for 2013 yet? Or should I say has it picked you! I knew I had the right word but last night my mom, knowing I always chose a word, asked what it would be. When I replied “Rooted” she said “good.” Not even a moment of hesitation!

Today let’s define our word. When we define something we grow in our knowledge of it and gain clarification. It helps us fine tune the lens we are looking through our word with. We might have the same word but it will have different meanings to each of us.

1. Look up the definition of your word in a dictionary.

My word is rooted which comes from the word root. Miriam Webster Collegiate Dictionary defines it as:

1 a : to furnish with or enable to develop roots
b : to fix or implant by or as if by roots
2 : to remove altogether by or as if by pulling out by the roots — usually used with out 〈root out dissenters〉

verb intransitive
1 : to grow roots or take root
2 : to have an origin or base

When I read through that the things that stick out to me are:

to grow or take root
to have origin or a base
to turn over, dig up, or discover and bring to light

2. Look up the definition in a thesaurus.

I looked up both root and rooted. Here are a few of the things I found:

Part of Speech: adjective
Definition: implanted
Synonyms: based on, deep, entrenched, established, firm, fixed, grounded

Synonyms: **basis, bedrock, beginnings, bottom, cause, center,** crux, derivation, essence, essentiality, footing, foundation, fountain, fountainhead, fundamental, germ, ground, groundwork, heart, inception, infrastructure, mainspring, marrow, motive, nub, nucleus, occasion, origin, pith, provenance, provenience, quick, quintessence, radicle, radix, reason, rhizome, rock bottom, seat, seed, soul, source, starting point, stem, stuff, substance, substratum, tuber, underpinning, well

3. Look up your word in the Visual Thesaurus – it gives you a great visual to ponder.

4. Think about and journal which words call out to you and why.

When I look at rooted I also see that this process requires pulling out roots that are not necessary, are poisonous, are unhealthy. I want to spend time thinking about what those are and the changes I need to make in my life.

The words seeds, source, starting point sadden me a wee little bit, if I am being honest, that at my age I am replanting, restarting but it is exciting too. I don’t want to spend much time looking back but I do want to write a few thoughts down on how I got here so that I can approach things in a different way.

I want to celebrate where I have roots. There are areas I am already rooted.

I am a rooted aunt to two nephews and a niece. I am rooted in family with strong relationships. I have several friends I have deep roots with. I have a blog that will be five years old next month. I have planted seeds with local bloggers that I hope will grow into more.

When I look ahead, a year from now, I see a tree with deep roots flourishing in the sun. I want to be involved in a church community, actively participating. I want to see people I know as I walk up to church and have friends to go to lunch with. I want to be the kind of friend I want to have. I want to date and if God allows, I want to meet and marry someone. Ok that is scary to put out here for all to see. More about that another day.

I want to have lively dinner parties with family and friends and celebrate all that God is doing. I want to have a career that is blossoming and prosperous. One that will support me and allow me to pursue the dreams I believe God has placed in my heart.

When I think about being rooted I also think about how that will feel. I will feel warm, stable, solid, loved and valued.

Here are a few journal prompts:

When you read these definitions what comes to my mind?
Are there any words that surprise you?
Pick 5 words that resonate the most.

Write out a statement of how you hope to be changed looking through the lens of that word this year.

If you are feeling brave, share your statement in the comments below – I would love to pray for you!

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