This post is dedicated to my amazing sister-in-law, Linda, whose birthday is today.
My 360th* post title was inspired by a comment on yesterday’s post by a blogger I admire very much, Shakti Ghosal. The comment concluded with this:
Have fun and continue to be amazing.
As I hope I have demonstrated this year, fun is very important to me (and here’s one post about that). So I already love what Shakti wrote. What makes me love that sentence even more, is the use of the word “amazing.”
“Amazing” is one of my favorite words, apparently.** I use it a lot. People have pointed that out to me. And because I can be a rather self-conscious person, when something personal is pointed out to me, I can wonder about it.
Why do I use that word? What does it mean to me?
And if I’m judging myself, I might ask myself this question, too: Is my frequent use of the word “amazing” … annoying***?
Here’s my answer to that last question: “Who cares?” (As usual, asking that question helps me let go of self-judgment. Isn’t that amazing?)
I think the other questions I asked above — the less judgmental ones — are more interesting. And I will try to answer them, in the time I have left before I need to leave for work this morning.
1. Why do I use that word?
I like the sound of it. It authentically *** reflects that way I feel. I am amazed, a lot of the time, at how creative, kind, loving, brave, resilient, and hopeful people can be, even after experiencing incredible challenges and set-backs. Often, when I am trying to express my reactions to all that, other words seem inadequate — incapable of capturing the depth of somebody else’s experience and the range of my responses to them.
2. What does it mean to me?
“Amazing,” when I use it, is almost always a positive word. I can’t prove that “amazing” is ALWAYS a positive word, when I use it, because I don’t have the tape of everything I’ve said in my entire life. However, that’s my gut feeling right now: when I use the word “amazing,” it’s a compliment.
It’s true that I am also surprised — amazed — by negative events. However, I believe, in those circumstances, I use words like “terrible” and “awful.” And, yes, those words are judgmental. Because, as I hope I have conveyed, throughout this year, judgment is human.
And I am human. And so are you. And we are connecting, in some way, right now.
Isn’t that amazing?
Okay, it’s time for an image. Let’s see how Google Images responds to the word “amazing” today.
Aha***! Google Images responds in many different ways, which does not amaze me. Here are some of the first responses, in order of appearance:
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******* 
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And before I end, for today, I shall consult my iPhone, too.
As my iPhone just showed me,
A-Okay! I have some personal images to show you, too.
I think it’s amazing that I get to do work I love:
that I can walk around, every day, and see beauty where I live (no matter how clear my vision is that day):
and that I get to blog here, every day, for readers like you, including those who tell me they would order “Year of Living Non-Judgmentally” merchandise:
There are many more things that I find amazing, this morning, including
how some creatures are not afraid of heights (which is amazing to me, because I am afraid of heights) ….
… but it’s time to end this post.
Thanks to amazing creatures, readers, writers, walkers, and humans everywhere and — most of all — to you, for visiting today.
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*Actually, it’s the 361st post, but who’s counting?
** Another one of my favorite words is “apparently.” Another one is “actually.” I don’t know why so many of my favorite words begin with the letter “A.”
*** Another favorite word.
**** This image was here.
***** This image was here.
****** This image was here.
******* This image was here, today. (I’ve seen this one before.)
******** This image was here.
The Year(s) of Living Non-Judgmentally 