Buttercup Counts her Blessings: My perfect Word

1,119 days ago I began studying languages on DuoLingo. My friend, Nancy, suggested it on Thanksgiving 2022, and I tried it and liked it. I began with studying French, veered off into Spanish and this summer began studying Italian. I studied French because I had studied it in high school and college and during the last three years I've visited France twice. I also studied Spanish in high school and wanted to brush up on the language and take a break from French. Italian? I'm not sure why. Maybe it chose me. I had no trip planned and besides a dozen words mostly found on menus, I had no knowledge of Italian.

I've found Italian difficult. Having a knowledge of two Romance languages didn't make it easier, just more confusing and I'd often use a Spanish or French word in my Italian lessons. But I liked the sound of it and kept at it. In the last month I've started thinking of a trip to Italy, but for now those are just thoughts and I have no plans. But a few days ago one of the words in my study was "volare," to fly. My mind drifted back to one of the most popular songs of 1958, Volare, which I'd always liked. I realized that it wasn't a random word, but an actual word in Italian and the second word of the song, "cantare," meant to sing.

A lightbulb went off in my head. The Italian was clicking and what I was learning was registering. Volare, Cantare. When I looked up the definition I was struck by its significance, "freedom, speed, dreams, or time passing quickly." I'd only written every blog post last month about the too-rapid passage of time. This was my word. It chose me and chased me down all through December.

And the words that Volare evokes...joy, ambition and transcending limitations? They're exactly what I need to embrace. I need to look beyond the limitations that I am often too quick to accept. Despite age, health and financial limitations I can still dream, plan and soar. Volare!

The first day of 2026 is coming to an end. I've caught up on posting I wanted to do, did my Italian lessons for the day and had a great time visiting with friends at an open house. I've walked two miles and resisted the impulse to buy cute Valentine things at Target. It's No Spending January and the struggle is real.

My lunch at the open house included this excellent savory pudding made with feta cheese.

I hope your day has gone as well as mine. I hope all of our days of 2026 are blessed with friends, good food and things that engage us.

As ever, thanks for visiting and volare!

And there it was right in front of me

I've been struggling with choosing my word for 2025. Sometimes in the fifteen years I've been choosing a perfect word the word seems to magically appear. In other years no word comes to mind and it's a struggle. This year was a little of both.

Dream came to mind a few weeks ago and I was sure I'd found my perfect word. But then doubt seeped in. Dream seemed like a frivolous word for someone of almost 75. Isn't dreaming something for young people? But the more I thought about it, the more I realized I don't really have dreams for the future. No mistake, I have a lot of plans and there are things I'd like to do, but it's not the big and grand dreams I had when I was younger. So I tucked dream aside and tried out many other words. But nothing seemed right for this year.

I was walking home this afternoon thinking about my word for this year. I wanted to write this post and as of 4:00 PM I had no idea what word to choose. And then Dream chose me. I looked up as I was walking and there was literally a sign right in front of me, "Dream until it's your reality." My perfect word was waiting for me a block from home.

Since Dream claimed me, it's time to start dreaming. It's been a long time since I've dreamed and I'm not sure where to begin. But in honor of my perfect word for 2025 I'm going to start dreaming, not planning. I'm going to take January and let my mind wander until my perfect dreams come to me. I'm not sure if they'll be waiting for me on the sidewalk, but I know that I'm meant to dream this year.

Has anyone else chosen a word for the new year?