At the beginning of each year, the Change Matrix (CM) staff selects a word that sets our intentions for the year ahead. At the end of that year, we collectively reflect on how the word has guided or shaped our lives throughout the year before picking a new word in January. In 2023, we’ve had several new staff members join CM. Though they joined after we chose our words, they identified words that they felt guided their year as well. Read the reflections of our 2023 words below:

Alina | Datsuzoku: This Japanese word means breaking from the everyday routine. I want to seek adventure and push myself into a discomfort zone. I feel like I’ve been cruising and letting things happen to me. I want to push myself into the discomfort rather than ending up there and feeling uncomfortable. It’s also a chance to break from the norm and not be complacent and okay with things just being the way that they are, but challenging my surroundings and others to do the same.

Reflections: I really wanted to focus on breaking routine this year. I have been on the road for five months (almost weekly), traveling to new places and breaking into a new groove, not taking for granted being in these new places.

Angel | Present: Part of this is that I think there are a lot of potential changes coming up this year (pertaining to where I’m living and what I’m doing) and a lot of goals coming up. This can cause a lot of stress personally and professionally, which can cause anxiety and chaos. I want to be present in these times. I also want to be a present to the team and work toward our goals without overextending myself.

Reflections: I wanted to be in the moment/grounded rather than thinking and living in the future all the time. After the loss of my mom, it’s been hard to stay present when I don’t like present reality. I am working to honor her teachings including how she loved living for the day. I want to explore what living life without her looks like next year.

Carra | Peace

Reflections: With the mindset of “Peace be still”. I am the type of person that takes action to make things happen so I would get overwhelmed and frazzled when chaos or random occurrences would happen. So being able to practice a sense of peace, I am able to just trust that things happen for a reason and will work themselves out. Even in the mist of a storm, I know that there is a higher power and a plan over my life.

Chyenne | Yes: I want to say “yes” to more things this year. I’ve become such a homebody, and I want to start taking advantage of more opportunities and adventures.

Reflections: I felt like I was letting the good days go by so I did say yes to more things this year and had more adventures.

Ciara | Faith: In 2023, I want faith that I have more persuasion, credence, and conviction. I want to learn to have more complete trust and confidence in what I hope for and assurance about what I do not see.

Reflections: I feel like my faith has grown tremendously, leaning not on my own understanding but trusting and being patient, studying, praising. I have gained so much by being, simply relying on faith and receiving favor!

Cindy | March

Reflections: I knew the year was not going to be easy, coming from a hard year of loss and change. I knew I just had to put one foot in front of the other and I marched through the year. I am looking forward to 2024.

Elizabeth | Impermanence: 2022 was a hard year, but it brought up this thinking that what we do and who we are is impermanent – but in a way, this is freeing. It frees us to explore and to be. I want to think about what this means for me, my work, and how I stay in community.

Reflections: This word choice came from loss I experienced in 2022. There were hard things that happened this year as well and remembering that they are impermanent helped me get through them and release the sense that you have to show up perfectly.

Evelyn | Mindfulness: For me, this applies to both my personal and professional life. I use post-its to remind myself of things throughout the day. One I have says to remember to be mindful and present. Letting things flow and not worrying about schedules or content (for presentations) allows people to learn more – presence over presentation. Mindfulness rewires our brains and helps us to do things differently.

Reflections: I took a mindfulness course this year and I do mindfulness therapy. It’s changed the way I work and I’ve been able to create safe and brave spaces in my projects, and I was intentional about how I chose to show up in those spaces. I am mindful about who I connect with amidst antiracism work. I am also being intentional about engaging with my daughter.

Ghia | Relish: I want to relish every moment. We don’t always enjoy our moments, whether with family or in our work. I also think about this in terms of the condiment: I want to add flavor to everything I do, whether it’s my equity work or preaching on Sundays. I want to add a little relish to everything!

Reflections: I tried to take everything in and live in the moment, and tried to find joy in each moment. I worked on adding a little flavor everywhere I go, showing “Ghia was there.”

Jen | New Beginnings

Reflections: This year, I found myself needing to self-advocate for my neurodivergence at my past job and push back against a system and individuals. Now I am ending the year learning how to walk again.

Jenny | Magical: This is about being part of a moment. It is expansive.

Reflections: My word is a work in progress; I will have to try again next year.

Lauren | Grounded: I want to be more present in moments in my life rather than wondering what is coming next. I also want to do more things outside and be grounded in nature.

Reflections: I wanted to make an effort to stay present, “feel my feet on the ground”, and spend time in nature. I feel more peaceful and in touch with myself and the world around me! I want to continue not to think too far ahead and give myself/others the gift of my full attention.

London | Wabi-sabi: I wanted my word to remind me to set boundaries for myself and learn to say no. I also want to learn to release control. I want to explore more deeply what it means to fail; there is a lot to learn from failure and that’s where growth and innovation happen. I wanted a word that meant imperfection and beauty – the beauty in imperfection. There is no English word to encapsulate all of this, but the Japanese word (wabi-sabi) means to bring together balance and beauty.

Reflections: I wanted to push myself to be okay with the unknown, failure, and mistakes. I challenged myself to think about things differently and I have been learning from it.

Melissa | Liberation

Reflections: This year I free myself from all that binds me. I liberate my mind from self-judgment and limiting beliefs. I liberate my heart from past hurts and fears. I liberate my body from ideals that distort my self-image. I liberate my voice to speak truth in the face of injustice. I liberate my spirit to soar into new places and spaces that deserve the real me. I release the need for others’ validation and walk the path of my inner wisdom. I embrace all aspects of my identity and move through the world unapologetically as my whole self.

Molly | Surrender

Reflections: I chose surrender, not in giving up, but understanding there are things you just have to hand over.

Nancy | Water: There is lots of water in the Bay area (where I currently live)! There is also a Bruce Lee quote that I think of that means that you’re able to adapt to whatever’s thrown at you; it’s such an essential resource and necessity on this Earth. This kept sticking out to me for this year and what it means for my own health and wellbeing.

Reflections: This year, I wanted to be adaptable. I have found myself going with the flow more this year and this allowed me to be more present and be okay with letting things be. I have felt more happiness and peace. 

Rachele | Shoshin: This is a word I use when facilitating groups. This is a term from a Buddhist concept that means having a beginner’s mind. I want to shed the preconceptions I have and approach things with eagerness. 2023 brings a lot of changes and I want to remind myself to sit in that space.

Reflections: I am now an empty-nester and I have been using this transition year to do things that I haven’t usually had time to do like listening to audio books, taking sewing lessons, and I even picked up piano again.

Sandra | Creativity: At the end of 2022, I was doing a creative project, and I was so engrossed in it. I had forgotten how happy that makes me. I’ve heard creativity described as a spiritual practice, and it’s a practice that has dropped off for me. In 2023, I want to do some more creative projects.

Reflections: The prior year, I focused so much on work and the things that dropped off for me were things that felt less important. After reading “Your Brain on Art”, I learned that making space and time for art is essential for our wellbeing. I didn’t feel successful this year due to life changes, but I am still trying and will bring this into the new year.

Tina | Health: I want to focus on every aspect of health in my life — physical, mental, spiritual. We also talk about the social determinants of health a lot, and I want to focus on checking in on my health every day.

Reflections: Although I got sick more often this year (including COVID), the year is ending strong for me and I’m feeling back on track with my mental and physical health.

Tonicia | Decolonizing: We have to work on decolonizing in order for families and communities to thrive. We need to decolonize our work, our content, and how we approach things. I am also working on showing up unapologetically, which is an act of decolonization itself.

Reflections: My goal was and is to interrogate information, practices, principles, status quo, etc. to identify the components that are helpful and those that are harmful. This is something that is important to me personally and professionally, and a strategy necessary to support youth, young adults, families, and communities in thriving authentically. It continues to be a journey, but it’s well worth it.