I recently had the privilege of hosting an International Women’s Day event, and our keynote speaker was Paulina Cameron, who by the way is a very interesting and compelling speaker, especially on the topic of female entrepreneurs. She wrote and curated a book called Canada 150 Women, and all of the attendees got a complimentary copy.

As I’ve been paging through it and reading the stories of these magnificent Canadian women, some of them were asked “if you were to get a tattoo of one word, what would it be?”

It’s a great question. It made me pause and really think.

I mean, how do you boil the essence of yourself or your beliefs or your legacy or your vision down to just one word? Or your personality, your joie de vivre? How especially do you boil it down to a word that you’re willing to have permanently inscribed on your body?

What one word would you choose?

Not all of the profiles contain the women’s response to this question, but a lot of them do. Words appear like:

• integrity
• courage
• resilience
• inspire
• alive
• hustle
• commitment
• freedom
• kindness
• love.

My favorite so far is one from a woman who said she’d never get a tattoo, so her tattoo would say “OMGWHATHAVEIDONE?” And by the way, I can totally relate.

But none of these are the word I’d choose for myself.

So what word would I choose?

Well, I thought about it a lot. Some that really resonate for me are:

• Kindness – the world needs so much more of this.
• Resilience – it’s an ambition of mine to be more resilient, but I’m definitely on the journey.
• Gratitude – remembering to be mindful and thankful for all that I have.
• Abundance – we talked about this during International Women’s Day – that having a mindset of abundance means that a rising tide floats all boats.
• Rise – love the visual of rising, rising above, sunrise, a phoenix rising from the ashes.

Dame Judi Dench got her first and only tattoo at age 81. You can see her talk about it on the James Corden show. She got “carpe diem” which is also a great reminder to oneself to seize the day.

One of my previous bosses and mentors had a private nickname for me. If he and I were catching up one-on-one, he’d always start the conversation by saying “Hello sunshine”. It always made me smile, but I never gave it much thought. But now when I think about my one word tattoo, that’s the word I’d choose: “sunshine”.

I’d choose “sunshine” because when I’m at my best, I feel like I radiate a sunny, warmth that comforts and inspires my friends, family and colleagues. I’m optimistic – seeing all the possibilities and finding the silver lining – and I share this warm, positive energy in a way that helps us all move forward.

If you were to get a tattoo of one word, what would it be? Share your thoughts in the comment box below.

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