Soar

Soar was the obvious next word and I picked it knowing exactly how it looked. Live, then Fly, then Soar. I wasn’t being subtle and didn’t want to be.

Same direction as last year, higher and faster. This was the year I started going back to the studio in person. Being in a room with mirrors and actual teachers changed the pace of everything. The goal was plain: learn faster, be better.

This was also the year I went back to adult gymnastics, the sport that started all of this. The return stayed a one-year return, for reasons that don’t belong on this page. I’m still glad I went back.

Mostly, the word worked. I got promoted to intermediate this year. I wasn’t the strongest, but I felt strong. I’d take that trade every time.

There’s something about measuring yourself in person again. At home you can convince yourself of a lot. In the studio, the mirror does the math, and so does the teacher standing three feet away. I wanted that. I’d spent the lockdown years progressing mostly in private, and I was ready to find out how much of it was real.

It was real. Higher and faster, like I asked. Next year’s word has a lot to live up to.