Word of the Year: Courage 1

Rio Grande Nature Center State Park, Albuquerque, New Mexico. April 2013.

From the movie, He Named Me Malala:

There is a moment when you have to choose whether to remain silent or to stand up. 

If my rights are violated and I keep silent, I should better die than live. 

Islam is our religion. They tarnished the beautiful face of Islam. Today, in a very peaceful manner, we record our protest. People used to respect each other's beliefs. Whoever ruins Islam's holy name, for the sake of politics, it is required to stand in their way, and not let them go. 

If I keep silent, then you lose the right to exist. 

The above quotes are from either Malala or her father.


I'm not one to do words of the year, annual vision boards, or the like. Nothing wrong with these things, they just aren't generally my bag.


However, this year is different. I need a word for this year, and that word is courage. A couple of definitions from Monsieur Google:

• Strength in the face of pain or grief.
• The ability to do something even when frightened. 

I don't know how this is going to roll out on my blog, but for now I'm looking at doing something on this word on the first day of each month.

The inspiration of Malala came to me first, because I figure if a 15 year-old can show the courage she has, then maybe I can, too.