Advent of a new year: choosing your ‘word’

Throughout a year loaded with more change than ever, my word for 2020—growth—continues to stretch and mold me. Yet, when I reflect on the past 12 months, I’m encouraged by the countless ways in which I’ve given my word a good workout. Perhaps it’s my age—reaching the halfway point in Club 50 membership can do that to a girl—or maybe it’s the date on the calendar that sparks possibility and expectation as we await the advent of shiny new beginnings. In either case, excitement stirs in my belly as I meditate on my word for 2021: a theme, of sorts, or call to action that captures the spirit of what I’m drawn to most, in this moment—a life of surrender. For me, this looks like creating a plan, but releasing attachment to future outcomes. And, instead, approaching each day with playful curiosity, while practicing resilience in the face of whatever comes.

What word or theme will you focus on in the new year?

Word-of-the-month: perspicacity (noun)

[Image credit: Master isolated images]

At my age, and with all the books I’ve devoured over the years, I figured I’d probably run across all of the words out there.  In fact, for nearly three decades, I’ve affectionately been dubbed “the walking dictionary.”  So when I come across a new word now and then, I can’t help but be excited to add another to the vocabulary coffer.  After all, the dictionary is always being updated, so why not me?  My contribution for this month is perspicacity, a word that showed up in a Dean Koontz novel a friend of mine was reading.  According to Dictionary.com, perspicacity is the keenness of mental perception and understanding.  Synonyms include: astuteness, shrewdness, clear-sightedness, cleverness, intelligence, sharpness, acuity, insightfulness and wisdom.   Used in a sentence, it may read: The young writer displayed perspicacity beyond her years in matters of character development.  And now that I’m familiar with this word, I feel like I’ve gained a bit of perspicacity, myself.

What new word have you learned lately?