Weird is the word.

I love a good theme so the idea of choosing a word at the beginning of the new year to serve as a touchstone has strong appeal. Where I have consistently gotten stuck, though, is winnowing down all the options to just one word. (Can anyone else relate?!)

This year is different and although I'm fashionably late to the "word of the year" party, I've realized a single word has been consistently been showing up for me since late last year:

Weird.

Most of my life, my secret longing has been to blend in, to not stand out, to be ... the same. And I worked dang hard at it -- wearing preppy clothes in high school I didn't even like because that's what everyone was wearing in the '70s, or climbing the corporate ladder to management as an adult because that's what was expected. You get the picture.

But the truth is, the more I worked at being the same, the more dissatisfied I became. The reality is I'm not the same and no matter how hard I tried to be like everyone else, the more I was resisting the reality of who I am.

So my vibe for 2025 is weird. Being unapologetically, uniquely, and inimitably myself; following the (perhaps peculiar?) paths and passions that call to me.

I'm ready for weird, I'm ready for real.