Word Wednesday Word of 2010: Streamline

(photo from TinyHouseDesign.com)

There seems to be a prevailing wind blowing in the direction of choosing a word to govern one's year. A word that represents a concept to explore in the upcoming months. A word that will help shape the landscape of one's life over the course of the next 12 months. What a powerful concept!

So, though I have given you my New Year's Resolutions and have declared them my mission statement for this year, there is a gap that they do not address. I am afflicted with the clutter gene. My grandmother had it. My mother has it to some degree. I am a packrat to the nth degree. I am sentimental. I am a hoarder of books and craft supplies. My brother escaped any need to collect or save.

So, my word this year is STREAMLINE. It is sleek and simple and it breathes the breath of open space and folded laundry. It speaks to me of color coded fabric and yarn, labeled jars of buttons and beads, bookshelves full of just books, and an unclogging of the stacks and stacks of drain stoppers called books and storage bins and shoe boxes.

The Free Dictionary says:
stream·line (strmln)

tr.v. stream·lined, stream·lin·ing, stream·lines

1. To construct or design in a form that offers the least resistance to fluid flow.

2. To improve the appearance or efficiency of; modernize.

3.

a. To organize.

b. To simplify.

n.

1. A line that is parallel to the direction of flow of a fluid at a given instant.

2. The path of one particle in a flowing fluid.

3. A contour of a body constructed so as to offer minimum resistance to a fluid flow.

This year, as I work on achieving my resolution goals, I will be embracing FLOW. I will be letting some things go. I will be organizing, simplifying, and improving the efficiency and appearance of my abode. I will be strangling chaos and resuscitating harmony, serenity, and tranquility.

Streamline. Now that is a mighty word.