Everyone has a #

You are not anyone these days on social media, or in real life, if you cannot say hashtag this, hashtag that.

So, being Creative, I was under pressure last year to come up with a # that fully encapsulated THE YEAR of 50. The year I had dreaded for 33 years. It had to be good. It had to be perfect. It had to be inclusive of all who celebrated their own 50th and who celebrated my 50th, and it had to be inclusive of the relief I had at reaching 50. It HAD to suit me and my personality and my business and my work.#bestbirthdayyear50…… was started to embrace us all who turned 50 around now.

Everything I was reading and hearing from friends who I went to school with, were all reflecting that 50 was the marker for life going downhill. 50 is bad. 50 is nearing the end. 50 is loser city. 50 is regrets.I didn’t think any of these things…. 50 to me, meant I beat the cycle of my Grandmother and mother dying from Cancer at 32 and 50 respectfully. If I made it to 50 there was no stopping me. And I did and so the hashtag was created out of celebration. Bring on the next 50 NOW.

HOWEVER….. 2016 and the #bestbirthdayyear50…… was a bust. It went South, right around April, and hit the South Pole (the actual Pole) for the rest of the year. (But that’s a whole other blog)

One cannot blame a hashtag for a year of disaster, but what I know to be true, for me, is this:  I have to be very clear of the METAPHORICAL, SPIRITUAL, BIGGER PICTURE results, of any words I use.

Words matter to me.

The phrase, “The pen is mightier than the sword” was first written by novelist and playwright Edward Bulwer-Lytton in 1839, in his historical play Cardinal Richelieu.

The bigger truism for me is that sometimes by my own shooshing up, for more than 5 mins, and writing, helps me wield the tougher sword.

My sword is to be kind, creative and intuitive. It is how I can conquer fear, and anxiety and the unjust and the bullies. It is how I teach and how I Coach.

Writing does not mean quoting or posting “namaste” memes 200 times while praying for people with my sandalwood incense burning FOR ME, words mean writing bluntly and writing the truth.

My sword also NEEDS to be about giving. BIG GIVING.

My hashtag #bestbirthdayyear50 was too much about receiving. Although that’s okay, I should have learnt by now, that in giving I receive and that means more to me.

Words count.

WHAT is your hashtag for 2017?

Mine is #2017kindcreativeintuitve. And most good will come from that.

Back to Basics.