Word for the Year: Agility

January 1 seems to be as good a day as any to start a blog for someone who has resisted such activity in the past.

It may seem odd for me— who has spent thousands upon thousands of hours writing over the last 18 years— to be reticent about writing in a public forum.

Even so, without further examination or explanation, here goes.

Choosing a word for the coming year has become a New Year’s thing; again, not an activity in which I have participated. And again, no reflection other than to say that there are so many inspiring words in the world!

How to choose just one?

This year, 2023, I have allowed a word to be gifted to me, a word sent in a birthday wish last year. My dear friend created a card for me in which she penned these lines, accompanied by an elegant drawing:

A dragonfly symbolizes
maturity,
strength from experience,
agility to move in any
direction,
powers of self-realization

I received this gift of words into myself, into my becoming, and return to them often.

According to Merriam-Webster, agility— or to be agile— comes to us from its Latin root, agilis, “to drive, be in motion, do, perform,” which itself comes from agere, the root for “agent” and “agency.”

Agility seems fitting for a woman of my age, whose body is becoming less willing to move as nimbly as she has in the past. Agility also speaks to the maturity of one who is able to mindfully navigate and rise above the turbulence of life’s challenges.

As one who desires to cultivate agility in mind and body— even as I seek to move and act on behalf of others— growth in this area seems a worthy endeavor for this upcoming year.