I was thinking of this for my word of the year but it’s not quite right… But since I’d already found some links, etc, I thought I’d post this anyway.
Winnow
1. to free (grain) from the lighter particles of chaff, dirt, etc., esp. by throwing it into the air and allowing the wind or a forced current of air to blow away impurities.
4. to subject to some process of separating or distinguishing; analyze critically; sift: to winnow a mass of statements.
6. to pursue (a course) with flapping wings in flying.
When I was a kid my family would go up for a week every summer to visit my grandparents, and while we were there, we’d rake blueberries for the family stand.
Then we’d come back and run them through the winnowing machine. A blueberry rake strips the low bush of berries, but that means you get everything: ripe berries, green berries, a few squashed ones from the metal tines of the rake, plus sticks, leaves, and a few spiders.
The winnowing machine has belts and a fan. The green and squashed berries are carried away by the moving belts. Leaves and sticks are blown up and away by the fan. The heavier ripe berries (which is all you want) roll down the belt to be caught in the green quart baskets. And you can’t beat wild New Hampshire blueberries fresh from the fields for taste. The bland cultivated ones around here are nothing in comparison.
It seems like a good word for a year where I want to declutter the house and a few pounds, finish the rough draft of my NaNoWriMo book, and go back and edit another into a final draft and finally try submitting it to agents. I want to take my life and blow away all the time wasters and things that don’t make me happy, and end up with tangy sweet goodness at the end 
Other possibles for word of the year:
Savor Mastery Act Complete Completion Baby-Steps Climb Control Refresh Renew Compose Plan Wu-Wei Dream Adventure Brave Concentrate Breathe Declutter If… Joy Create Commit Grow Soar Coalesce Shine Decide Discover Practice Sift Harvest Gather Emerge Refine