The Word That Expanded My Entire Year
I wanted to share a wild and personal story about how a year of expansion began for me with one little word.
So at the very start of last year, I sat in a heart led women’s circle and during a meditation, we were invited to welcome in a word to guide us in the year ahead. Something to root and expand us forward.
In the past, I've often had my set "word of the year" and I always chose something that really made a whole lot of sense. It was thoughtful, meaningful and something to anchor me to what I desired more of. Well, this time felt very different and I could feel it immediately.
What came to me was not a word, but an image. An eye. The iris, to be exact. 👁️
I didn't understand it and since it didn't quite fit into my box of what I wanted for a "word of the year," I actually tried think my way past it, assuming something clearer would come to me. But it did not. The image stayed, quiet and persistent. So I gave in and "Iris" became my word of the year.
From that day on, I let "Iris" reveal to me what it meant and wanted to call me forward into.
At first, I remembered that my favorite flower as a little girl was an iris, and thought that was cute. Then I fully began noticing "Iris" everywhere! In names of people I met. In songs playing unexpectedly. In images on cards that people handed me, and countless sweet moments that felt anything but random.
A few weeks later, I was playing with a goddess themed deck and it dawned on me that even though I've never heard of her, there might also be a goddess named Iris! Well, there absolutely was and that's when I really started to feel the magic of this word.
With a quick search, I found that Goddess Iris is known for being the goddess to bridge between the human world and the spirit world, and get this...she travels on a rainbow. That discovery landed deeply for me, as I've often thought of my work as a bridge between worlds.
This discovery was all happening as I was also beginning to envision my first women’s group retreat. It felt like a quiet the confirmation, like I was being accompanied. So I named the retreat after her,
It became, "The Iris Retreat" and planned it for over Halloween weekend.
What surprised me most was how Iris began to show up for others too. Women who later joined the retreat, without knowing any meaning in the signs, told me they were seeing rainbows everywhere. On one call, inviting a client to join, a rainbow appeared on the wall behind her, I just smiled silently and gave a little wink to Goddess Iris.
Whenever I felt sacred and stretched way out of my comfort zone this past year in a million different ways, an actual rainbow would appear, in the sky, reflected in glass or stitched onto a passing backpack. It became a deeper reminder for me to trust I'm on the right path and to absolutely keep going.
I've always believed in starting the year with intention, but the level of expansion last year, showed me just how powerful it can be when we truly listen at the beginning, and allow something "more" to also choose us.
This is why, I felt called to lead Drop Into You Year, for a 4th year in a row. This is a deeper experience to vision from your heart and intention set for your year ahead. Because this year gets to be your most expansive year yet, if you want it to be!
Drop Into Your Year is happening on Thursday 6-7:30pm ET and it WILL be a space to pause, listen deeply, and step forward with intention. If you're a woman who craves a space like this, please sign up and join us on Thursday!
Sign up here:
Drop Into Your Year
With ♡ and gratitude,
Jennifer