Unicorn float in Bangkok

In 2018 my word of the year was ‘exuberance’, but in 2019 I failed to pick a word. Now I’m back on the word of the year bandwagon. Here’s why I’ve chosen to navigate 2020 with the word ‘uninhibited’ in the lead.
______________________________________

Fuck it, eat the cookie
Uninhibited and happy in my sheike green dress

Uninhibited

/ʌnɪnˈhɪbɪtɪd/
Adjective

To be uninhibited is expressing one’s feelings or thoughts unselfconsciously and without restraint.

Not having been restrained or suppressed.


2020 will be a big year, I just know it. It will also be the year that I turn 30. Though it’s not the main reason, the impending milestone birthday had a lot to do with my ‘word of the year’ choice this year.

There were a few moments towards the end of 2019 that made me realise I needed to adopt this idea of being ‘uninhibited’. I needed to take it, and use it in all it’s applications if I wanted to see my 2020 go in the direction I planned.

Those ‘Moments’

It took my gorgeous friend Rachel (@fieldnotes__) telling me that there’s no reason why I can’t write music reviews, to actually secure a music review at Ziggy Alberts and get it published on a new masthead. Then, just before Christmas, I made the decision to part ways with one of my longstanding clients. It’d been something I had been meaning to do for a long time, but I feared that, if I left, I would find myself in a financial hole. It took the confidence vote of my step mum to finally bite the bullet and do it.

Uninhibited dancing in the change room

The final moment that cemented this idea of being ‘uninhibited’ in 2020 is a much more obvious one for you guys – I started the process of my rebrand. Now, all my online spaces will come under my own name, Monique Ceccato. While there is still a way to go before everything is changed over, the process has been started and there’s no turning back now!

This rebrand is something that I’ve been sitting on for a long time. It all seemed too complicated to do, and I just shelved the idea. After the confidence boosts of the music review and letting go of a client, I realised I was holding myself back by enjoying the comfort and perpetuating irrational fears.

In 2020, it’s all about not holding back

The more I think about the word, the more I can see it’s applications in the new year.

In August, I’ll be reaching a milestone age and I want to achieve the goals I set out for myself before that birthday. The few things that happened last year are proof in the pudding that removing the thing that’s inhibiting is only to your benefit. It’s impossible for me to move forward, and see these big plans come to fruition, when I’m holding myself back. I need to stop making excuses and just damn well do it. I need to live outside my comfort zone and live without my fears.

Me with green

For as long as I can remember, I’ve struggled with self-confidence. I could be winning all the science awards at school, and still doubt my knowledge in the field. This year, that’s going to stop. This year, I won’t let my mind get the better of me.

There will be no fearing change either. I can’t let my anxiety about letting things go and starting anew get in the way. Spontaneity and being uninhibited go hand in hand. So, I will be allowing more spontaneity in my life without letting it drive my anxiety.

Most of all, I’m excited to live 2020 uninhibited for the sense of freedom it will bring. I can’t wait to be a better, and less tentative version of me.

MY CHALLENGE TO YOU: tell me, what’s your word of the year? What are you going to live your year by?

You may also like

IPL: All You Need To Know

Leave a Reply