By Caitlin Rothermel
Will you pick a word for 2025? Choose a word that captures what you want to aim for this year.
Applied well, one meaningful word can act like an anchor, helping to focus your thoughts and align your subconscious mind with your intentions. Different than new year’s resolutions, which force you onto a task or series of undertakings, a single word is more like a road you walk on – a road with a view worth considering.
Once you decide to look for your word, it can show up in many ways – often quickly, following some straightforward consideration, but also as a picture in your mind or based on something someone says – occasionally, with perfect timing – that resonates just right.
Then, define your word in a way that ties it to a purpose you feel ready to stick with for at least a year. Be as interpretive, spiritual, symbolic, or Carl Jung-ish about it as you wish.
In 2021, the first year I picked a word, I chose “Leapfrog.” I saw it clearly in my mind’s eye – in my interactions and experiences, I wanted to “leap” over unnecessary noise and land closer to the heart of the matter. Also, in that very unique year, I needed a new way to understand what “moving forward” could mean.
This year, my word is “Curiosity.” As I see it, curiosity is naturally inquisitive and open-minded. My curiosity wants primarily to understand who I am, and also who others are – both how we think and how we feel. Ideally, this curiosity remains in place even if it means looking at touchy or painful issues.
It seems that we are born into our curiosity. In Internal Family Systems (or “parts”) theory, curiosity is one of several “C-words” that describe the key parts of our deepest self. Each C-word refers to an innate part of our being and represents a mode of expression we were all born with – although it can feel like we no longer have access to it, or only sometimes have access to it.
(If you are curious, the other C-words are calm, clear, compassionate, confident, connected, courageous, and creative. If you think of a healthy, outgoing toddler, it’s easy to understand how each word shows through in their everyday actions.)
Taking on curiosity is both exciting and anxiety-provoking. I have a love-hate relationship with curiosity, and I bet you do, too.
Real life can make me grouchy and punchy, leading to disinterest and stubborn irritation, which definitely blocks curiosity. Then, when I’m feeling curious again, I end up having more questions and ideas than I can fit into the time available (because sleep is also important, as is feeding and caring for myself and my family). This can feed back into being grouchy.
But, when I’m really engaging with my curiosity, I become extremely connected to what I’m doing. It’s a flow-state feeling, a fantastic brain-body activation. (Side note: what happens next is that I typically realize how nice it feels and then become distracted from my curiosity.)
With curiosity, you’re no longer limited to what you were “good at” in school, or really to any boundaries in terms of what you can look at. In any endeavor, it’s always possible to get a bit more understanding. And honestly, “a bit more” is a completely reasonable goal.
Something I’m also learning, slowly, to like about curiosity is that it leaves room to be wrong. When you open yourself up to curiosity, you’re likely to find out that you were wrong about something. Realizing that things are not anywhere near as settled as you thought is actually both scary and exciting, no matter how old you are. If your ego gets hurt, it can really hurt, but it also opens up room for insight – sometimes within moments or hours.
Put another way, when I find a way to keep my curiosity active even when it hurts, something new and really useful always happens next.
With all that said, what’s your word for the year?
