If there’s one thing I’ve learned for sure from my monthly vision journey in 2021, it’s this: No matter which word I chose, there’s something incredibly powerful about giving that word daily intention in my everyday life.

My word for March was gratitude and since I’ve found that daily challenges work incredibly well for me, I joined the Two Writing Teachers Slice of Life Challenge to chronicle my daily gratitude celebrations. Each day, I wrote a short letter of gratitude to a person, item, location or experience I was grateful for within the last 24 hours and wanted to hold onto. It was a game changer.

Over the course of the month, I found myself slowly shifting my mindset. Instead of searching for little things to be grateful for, I found myself regularly noticing them throughout my day, things I likely would have never noticed before. No, that’s not right. Things I KNOW I wouldn’t have noticed before. And in that noticing, I realized something pretty powerful. It is almost impossible to notice the little things in life that matter, that bring us joy and that make us happy, without margin in our days.

When I was rushed and busy, I overlooked many of the small pleasures throughout my day. But when I was unhurried and literally had time to smell the roses, I did.

So this month, my word of the month is: margin.

I’ll work to create margin in my days and strip away the busyness I tend to wear as a badge of honor. I’ll cultivate margin in my home to create more space for joy, gratitude and love. I’ll strive to create margin in my life to make time for more curiosity and creativity.

And while I’m not joining a challenge to support my efforts (after all, that would likely take margin from my life, not add to it), I’m creating margin in other ways: in my schedule, in my commitments, in my calendar and more. Of course, I’ll share what I’ve learned with you next month and if you like, you can follow me on Instagram or Twitter as I attempt to chronicle my journey there, too.

So, what’s your one word for the month of March? And how will you hold it close all month long? Share your comments below, tag @AffinitoLit on social media and join me in the #OneLittleThing movement!