Totem
One
 
Hey First name / friend, 
 
This week, I had a few visitations:
  1. A client project alighted in my inbox like a monarch butterfly, inviting me to curate words and images/design. It reminded me that this potent combination totally pops me right into flow.
  2. Then the word “totem” fluttered through my thoughts.
  3. My orange-and-black visitor—“totem"—flashed again.
  4. And again.
  5. And again.
I mean, I sort of know what a totem is. Like, a totem pole. It's part of certain American Indian cultures. It has something to do with carvings of animals. It has spiritual and cultural significance. Right?
 
“Let's look it up!” said I.
 
to·​tem | \ ˈtƍ-təm \ (n.):
A natural object, usually an animal, that serves as a distinctive, often venerated emblem or symbol. A means of personal or spiritual identity.”
—Webster's Dictionary
 
Granted, Webster's Dictionary isn't winning awards for being the least WASP-y resource out there, but as I trekked down the world-wide rabbit-hole, the indigenous voices I encountered backed this description.  
 
The animal-related component didn't resonate strongly for me, in terms of puzzling out the “totem” word-flashes of the past week. But the idea of an object serving as a symbol, and acting as a concrete expression of personal or spiritual identity, was chiming all my intuitive bells. 
 
For me, this week, my venerated objects—my personal symbols—were words and pictures. Paired.
 
Then I listened to a podcast in which someone casually mentioned her 2021 focus word (it was “ease")—and I was like, I am 100% going to make a word+image totem for 2022.
 
If I had to pick a word for 2021, it would be "one." As the year dawned, I was living one millisecond at a time. At some point in January—blessedly—that grew to one minute at a time. From about April on, it became one step at a time (image above). And all of these infinitesimally small progressions started accumulating into one new life, one tiny green sprout poking up through acres and acres of ash.
 
—
 
I haven't settled on my intentional 2022 totem yet.
 
How about you? Looking back, are you able to catch a glimpse of your word+image totem for 2021?
 
wordhippo.com is my go-to for sleuthing out the perfect word.
unsplash.com is a gold mine of gorgeous, free, public-domain photos.
 
I'm keeping an eye out, waiting for my intentional 2022 totem to alight. 
 
You?
Meg

 
Image item
 

 
 

 
Meg Peery | Copywriter
Clear-eyed copywriting with heart
ph + txt | (540) 476-2065
 
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