This year, I’ve set myself a word that is attainable, yet still challenging, for me.

Instead of setting new year’s resolutions, I have long chosen a ‘word of the year’ as an aspirational goal. It’s a word that might be about bringing something into reality, such as ‘abundance’ (that year worked out quite well for me, actually). It might be a word that sums up my highest pressing need, such as ‘rest’. That was my word for 2023, but I’m sorry to say, it was the absolute last thing that defined my year. 2023 couldn’t have been more at the opposite end of the ‘rest’ spectrum if it tried. Some years, I labour over choosing a word for a long time. This year, though, there was pretty much only one word that leapt to my mind.

FUN.

While last year’s hope for rest was a serious dumpster fire failure, fun is the antidote. If you can’t rest (and I’m pretty lousy at resting at the best of times), then the next best thing must surely be fun because fun gives you energy. Fun lightens everything. Fun flies in the face of dramas and difficulties and says, yeah, okay, that’s rotten, but I refuse to stay down there. Fun says ‘yes’ to life. Fun pulls us into the present moment. If scary roller coasters are your idea of fun, you’ll not be spending a second of that ride thinking about your debt, or the assignment you have due, or the fight you had with your spouse. Instead, you’ll be fully there, hanging on for dear life.

Of course, if you’re the kind of person who has fun easily and frequently, then that might not be the right word for you. I think the power of a word for the year lies in its ability to take us into areas we are struggling to reach, opening our minds and bringing in new experiences. The added benefit of fun is that it can be shared; it’s the gift that keeps on giving.

Did you know that having fun is not an additional luxury but a basic human need? I read that recently (because now that I’m talking and writing about fun the internet is doing its thing and bringing me more things to read) and it kind of shocked me. I actually had a moment of feeling bad for my mind and body that I had denied it so much fun last year. This year, I will do better. But how? Practice, I assume.

Recently, I was chatting with Cheryl Akle from Better Reading and I mentioned my word of the year being fun and she quite reasonably asked me how I made sure I kept focus on my chosen word. I don’t, I confessed, which is why some years I just ‘get lucky’ with my chosen word and other years I ‘fail’ miserably. Thanks to Cheryl’s query, I have been putting some things in place to ensure the fun gets to be had. I might pop back and update you on that as the weeks go on.

For now, though, I wish you a happy new year that brings you the things you need this trip around the sun. And if you do have a word of the year, I’d love to hear it.

Jo x