What's on your bingo card for 2024? It’s that time of year when we’re tempted to play the resolutions bingo.
According to a commonly cited statistic, around 80% of New Year's resolutions fail by mid-February. I've contributed to that figure by surrendering to the allure of sugary desserts thanks to my coworker's homemade cookies.
Seeking positive alternatives to resolutions, I prompted a chatty friend for suggestions. Embracing gratitude, mindfulness, and creating a vision board were among the inspiring ideas shared.
This brought me back to February 2020 when my friends Andie, Lala, and I gathered one afternoon to craft vision boards for the year. We cut out pictures, words, and symbols to represent the experiences, feelings, and achievements we hoped to manifest in the coming year. By May 2020, in the midst of lockdowns, Lala jokingly asked, "Okay, which one of you had this on their vision board?"
New Year, New Words
A standout suggestion to resolution alternatives was choosing a guiding word for the year. Instead of the usual suspects like "joy" or "happiness," I thought it would be fun to use new words added to the dictionary in 2023. Here are some of my favorites —
Zhuzh (noun) refers to a small improvement that enhances the overall look, taste, or quality of something.
Gastrodiplomacy (noun) is the strategic promotion of a nation's cuisine to foster diplomatic connections and favorable public relations. For an example, check out my video about Musang Seattle.
Kinkeeping (noun) involves the labor of maintaining and enriching family ties, encompassing activities like organizing social occasions, remembering birthdays, and sending gifts.
Antifragile (adjective) describes a state of becoming stronger when exposed to stressors, uncertainty, or risk.
Rewild (verb) means to return to a more natural or wild state, either by making something natural or wild again or by becoming more in tune with nature.
Word of the Year
Oxford’s 2023 Word of the Year, "rizz," meaning style, charm, or attractiveness, is an intriguing choice. Alternatively, Merriam-Webster's pick, "authentic," sparked contemplation because it has a number of meanings, including “not false or imitation” and also “true to one’s own personality, spirit, or character.” I was struck by what they wrote on their press release that emphasized the multifaceted nature of authenticity.
‘Authentic’ is often connected to identity, whether national or personal: words frequently modified by authentic include cuisine and dish, but also self and voice. Authentic is what brands, social media influencers, and celebrities aspire to be. Ironically, with authentic content creators now recognized as the gold standard for building trust, ‘authenticity’ has become a performance.”
How curious that in our pursuit of "authenticity," we've inadvertently veered towards its opposite. Incidentally, an alternate meaning has been added for “bingo card” in 2023. The new definition is “a list of possible, expected, or likely scenarios.”
With all this in mind, here's hoping you find your word for the year.
The key, it seems, is to approach the new year with a positive and flexible mindset, focusing on personal growth, well-being, and the joy of the journey.