31 December 2010

My Word for MMXI

I have come to the point in my life where I need to decide whether to fall back into the bottomless depths of oblivion or to forge ahead into the raging storm of the future. At the end of this coming year I plan to retire from my present career at sixty-four and I need to decide if I am just going to pull the plug and wait for the "beeping" to stop or if I am going to sally forth and rage against the fading of the light by doing something new and different. New Year's Eve is the time when we traditionally take stock of our lives and and if we listen to our conscience and are honest with ourselves we attempt to make some adjustments. In the last few years I have limited my self to just a few resolutions and I am happy to report that I have been moderately successful in keeping them. This year, however, I have decided to reduce my resolutions even further to just one word that I can keep in front of me as a symbol for what I want to accomplish in 2011.

After careful consideration the English word that I have chosen is "ideate" (pronounced AHY-dee-aet) which is a verb that means "to form an idea of", "to think of", "to imagine" or "to conceive of". It is synonymous with "to dream", "to envision", "to fancy", to "fantasize", "to picture", "to visualize", "to conjure up", or "to see in your mind's eye". When used in the intransitive form (without an object) and in the imperative mood (command) it means:

THINK!

The thing that I really like about this word "ideate" is that it means the same thing in Spanish when you use the Spanish verb "idear" (ee-day-AHR) as a command although in the imperative it is written "idéate" (pronounced ee-DAY-ah-teh). When thinking about a symbol that would serve as a reminder of this word in both languages I chose the traditional incandescent light bulb because 130 year old invention has had such longevity as a symbol for fresh thinking. Then I had second thoughts about it because the incandescent bulb is no longer politically correct and the "green movement" that is so popular these days might take issue. I thought about using a spiral shaped CFL (Compact Fluorescent Lamp) as a symbol instead until I learned that the CFL isn't as environmentally friendly as it is purported to be. For one thing it contains mercury which eventually builds up in landfills with the potential to contaminate the air and water of millions of people. In fact, the only place where CFL's are presently manufactured is in China where they are made using very cheap labor and the pollution from the mercury is already making the poor workers sick. No...I think I will stick to the incandescent bulb as a symbol for an idea until something better comes down the pike. In the meantime I'll just "ideate" about it.

Happy New Year!

8 comments:

GlorV1 said...

I love that word Bob! It makes me want to just ideate:DD It sort of makes me want to dance, to do, you know, to get moving and do something. I love it. I will have to think of my word. I haven't given it much thought, but I am sure I will think of one.
HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU AND GINA, BOB!! Have a great year ahead, filled with health, happiness and love.
Take care.

Leslie Harris said...

What a great word! I'm not sure what my word for 2011 is going to be. I will probably spend most of tonight thinking about my word!

Wishing you and Gina a Prospero y Feliz Año Nuevo! (((Abrazos!))) :)

Paty said...

I don't like those CFLs at all. My last boyfriend in the States was an electrician and electrical inspector. He said that when the ballast in florescent bulbs begin to wear out, the light actually consumes MORE power than an incandescent light! And I never got those CFL things to last more than a year and they cost me 14 times the cost of the old standby.

Maybe they have improved the CFLs over the years. I sure hope so because I read just the other day that Mexico is going to totally outlaw incandescent bulbs in the future--maybe sometime in 2011?

Hope you all have a safe and peaceful New Year's Eve and in the new year be surrounded with love.

norm said...

We have some pretty cool LED head lamps, they use 3-AA's and have lasted through a few months of night time dog walking. I mean they are not spot lights but you can see where you're going. They seem pretty low cost, I bought them at a close out place for $1.50 US.

Now retirement: My plan is to go on some really long drives-like about 4 months at a time. I love the back packers I meet when I'm on the road but I hate riding buses, pickup trucks, donkey carts and walking more than a mile so a private car it is. Can I be a carpacker and still see it all?

Have a nice new year, love your blog.

Brenda Maas said...

Happy New Year to you and your wife and families.
Great word.
I think your phrase, "sally forth and rage against the fading of the light by doing something new and different." is a great plan.
Go for it and happy retirement, I will vouch for retirement, it is great.

Greg Hahn said...

What a great read for e early morning on January 1. Thanks for writing such an interesting blog, Bob.

May God bless you and yours in the coming year. And please stay far from the bottomless depths of oblivion.

Barb said...

Happy New Year to you and yours, Bob.

Bob Mrotek said...

Dear Gloria, Leslie, Paty, Norm, Brenda, Goyo, & Barb,
A very Happy New Year to all of my special friends on this very first day of a new and special year! Remember...the word for the year is IDEATE. Let's see what we can do to make the world a little better place for everybody!

P.S. Norm, let me know when you are ready :)

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I was born and raised in Chicago, Illinois, U.S.A. I have been living in Mexico since January 6th, 1999. I am continually studying to improve my knowledge of the Spanish language and Mexican history and culture. I am also a student of Mandarin Chinese.