I am still having trouble believing that “Word Nerd Day” is a real thing. (Which raises the question - what even is “a real thing”?)   But more than one place on the Internet says that January 9th is Word Nerd Day, so let’s go with it. For the moment I’ll try to resist the urge to track down the history of Word Nerd Day, the process by which a day could become official/“real”, and whatever other topics of interest might emerge. 

 Back to words. Last week I had a bright idea for making this space useful in the New Year. I thought I could post weekly reflections, on one word at a time, in alphabetical order.  Fascinating and fun.

Now - if I had admitted, let alone noticed, that I already had two words for “A”, I might have anticipated a bump in the road here.  But did I? (Who are we kidding?) Nope, I was oblivious. I quickly decided to start an A-Z list, and then an A-Z notebook, to record all the “candidate words” that came to mind for each letter.  And on Monday I started writing and reflecting on a few of the “A” words, because I couldn’t decide on just one. As the week went by —  surprise! — the more I wrote and reflected, the more “A” words came to mind. I ended up both amazed by how they all fit together, and daunted by the prospect of trying to write something that could cogently explain and explore the connections. 

Which is why I’m throwing this advance notice out there now. Not only because at this point I lack an acceptably coherent reflection on even one word starting with the letter “A” — but also because I’d like to offer the suggestion that the process of pondering words, and reflecting on their significance, could offer us opportunity for growth. Attending to words, and their meanings and stories, could even become part of a spiritual discipline: a practice of becoming open and available to inner transformation.

Fellow word nerds, do with this what you will. Try it and see what you think! If you are a person of faith, pray into the exercise and ask for insight and renewal of your mind and heart. In any case, allow yourself to savor the words — and the meanings and the stories and the connections — that come to mind.  I’ll post some thoughts on “A” words next - and I welcome yours as well!