Sam’s words of the year, through the years

Tracy recently organized our annual post on the bloggers’ Words of the Year.

In choosing my word for 202, I spent time reviewing my past selections.

Here’s my list:

Focus, 2020

Flow, 2021

Integrity, 2022

Growth, 2023

Adventure, 2024

This year, Engage

Yellow wall, black sign with green letters which read BEAST MODE ENGAGE

Why engage?

I confess that “beast mode” wasn’t the first thing to come to mind. But it was what came up in the WordPress free image search.

On the work front , this semester is my first research leave in eight years, since winter 2017 which I spent at the U of Toronto Centre for Ethics. I’ve never gone this long without leave before and I’m keen to re-engage with ideas, and arguments, and writing.

I’m also feeling keen to engage with all the outdoor activities I love, hiking and biking and back country canoe camping.

I need to see more of the people I love, to engage more with the people I care about. I’ve had a few significant losses in recent years, two more in the past few months, and I’m struck anew by how short and precious life is. ♥️

There’s also the big scary political world, getting scarier by the day as Trump talks of leaving the WHO, escalating the death penalty, taking over Canada, and forced mass deportation

Add to that the rise of the right here in Canada and I’m having to fight very hard against the impulse to hide under my blankets. Instead I’m resolving to engage, to take a stand, to write letters, campaign door to door, to do something, anything to make a difference.

And then there’s the Star Trek connection!