How my word for the year chose me

It’s quite a popular thing to choose a guiding word for the year. I’ve done this for the past couple of years, but this year I decided not to choose a word.

Mostly I haven’t found choosing a word to be very helpful.

Now I wonder if that is because I was too much in my head. After letting go and deciding not to choose a word for 2016, a little word chose me: MAGIC.

Perhaps that sounds silly – and quite honestly, I don’t know if I would believe it really if it hadn’t happened to me. How does a word choose you? In my case, a few nudges from the universe and I realised I already had a guiding word, despite not wanting to choose one.

I named the free course I created right at the end of 2015 the Magical 2016 Yearbook. I don’t know why – it just came to me and sounded quite cool. I honestly didn’t give it a lot of thought.

I named the course before I put most of the content together, but as I created each lesson I came to realise just how magical the process is – especially the visioning section. If you read lesson 8 you’ll see what I mean – the images I used in my own visioning and the things I managed to manifest last year just show you how magical it can be.

The day before new year’s eve I felt pulled to go to one of my favourite spiritual stores in the local town near our beach house (we went down to the beach house for summer – don’t forget I’m in New Zealand). When I got there I found a deck of oracle cards I’ve been wanting for ages and also came across another deck of oracle cards I’d never seen before (but which totally spoke to me). I grabbed both and headed home.

In truth, I don’t totally know how to use oracle cards. Sometimes if I’m feeling conflicted I might ask them for guidance. Other times I pull one for direction on a project. But otherwise they sit on my shelf as gorgeous little packages I don’t often touch.

But I took my two new packs of oracle cards back to the beach house and didn’t think much of it again.

A couple of days later, I got up to watch the sunrise on new year’s day on the beach – I saw it as symbolic of starting the year afresh. It was quite windy and cloudy. I was tired after a late night of seeing in the new year, and I spent a good 10 minutes debating whether or not to even go down to the beach or just crawl back into bed. Eventually I pulled on my jacket and stepped out into the wind to greet the new year.

I found a spot on the sand and settled in. After sitting for a few moments, watching the world slowly wake up around me, I noticed a necklace hanging on a small wooden post nearby. It was a single piece of rose quartz on a black cord. Rose quartz has always been ‘my stone’ – it has always resonated with me, so much so that when my fiance proposed he got me a custom made engagement ring with rose quartz in the center.

At first when I noticed the necklace I was reluctant to take it, but my intuition told me it was ok. I felt like it was a gift to me, for the new year, from the universe. It was so odd – out of the whole beach, of all the places I could have chosen to sit down… there I sat, and there was the necklace. The beach was totally abandoned. I took the necklace and slipped it into my jacket pocket.

When I got home, my conscience kept bugging me. What if someone was looking for the it? It wasn’t expensive by any means, but I didn’t want to take it from someone who cherished it. I pulled some oracle cards from one of my new decks for guidance and the answer was clear. The cards assured me that it was ok to trust my intuition and that the necklace was a gift for me. Later that day a violent storm began, which lasted for several days after. No one would have gone to the beach. I’m certain the necklace would have been lost in that time if I’d left it on the beach. It was meant for me to take on that windy morning.

It was a strange and magical start to the new year. I’ve worn the necklace everyday since and will continue to wear it for the year as a reminder to trust my intuition, and to accept the gifts offered to me from the universe.

Shortly after returning home from my little holiday, I received an email to let me know Susannah Conway is about to launch a new course called Daily Guidance. In this class she teaches how she uses oracle and tarot cards in her daily life. I took this as another sign from the universe and signed up right away.

Slowly the word ‘magic’ began to crystallize in my mind. As I settled into an afternoon of vision boarding for a new space above my desk, the word kept jumping out at me from magazines. I noticed posts about magic in my Facebook feed and I reflected on my finding the necklace on the beach in my journal. I didn’t want a guiding word for the year, but one seemed to be staring me right in the face: MAGIC.

And so it is. Little nudges here and there from the universe to embrace magic in my life in 2016. In hindsight, there was some great magic for me in 2015, so now that I’m consciously opening to it and cultivating it I’m excited to see what 2016 will bring.

Have you chosen a guiding word for 2016, or has one chosen you? Share in the comments below.