Our 2025 Nudge Word - Editorial
When 2022 turned to 2023, the Washington Post made a rather attractive argument against the concept of a new year’s resolution. Instead, it popularized the idea of a “nudge word” for the new year: a single word sort-of mantra that is representative of the goals, values and intentions we bring with us into the new year.
Our nudge word for 2025, after much consideration, is “metamorphosis.” We stand on the precipice of a new year—a blank slate, patiently waiting for the unseen history that lies ahead to be inscribed upon it. What will it be? Who, what and where will we be—tomorrow, next week, this time next year? Maybe it is due to our love of writing, but this concept is one that excites us at the start of each year.
Last year our nudge word was “hope,” something there certainly was a lot of in 2024. The past 12 months contained multitudes; big changes, some unprecedented, others more or less expected, unfolded in every corner of the globe. We saw change in our newsroom and in our town government; we have elected new state and federal representatives that will take office in just a couple of weeks. The year 2024 was a year of action, no doubt.
For 2025, the intention we set with the word “metamorphosis” is simple: we want to adapt. Metamorphosis, definitively speaking, is the process of transformation. Change begets change, as Charles Dickens famously said, and that mantra feels apt for the times we find ourselves in.
In turbulent times, the role of local news is paramount. It keeps the public informed, and informed communities are key to maintaining a healthy democracy. Every action has an equal and opposite reaction, and as we usher in a new year, we think it is important to consider the effect the changes seen in 2024 will have on the year ahead. Local newsrooms, like ours, help bridge divides, foster community connection, share perspectives and shed light on things like policy issues and the inner workings of municipal government. People need someone or something that they can rely on and have trust in during times of change. The Enterprise, we think, can be—and is—that beacon of light through the haze.
That being said, the questions we are entering this new year with are largely focused on our newsroom and how it relates to the community at large. What can we do better, for ourselves, our community, our readers, our neighbors? How can we rise to meet the challenges that lay ahead, whatever they might be? In what areas can we improve, expand and grow?
While we don’t have resolutions for 2025, we do have a few wishes:
May we embark on new journeys without fear;
May we find new ways to heal, to overcome our differences (or indifferences) and pioneer a new path forward;
May we cultivate compassion and humanity in our hearts and remain open to new ideas, new experiences and new stories from new people;
May we have the openness and willingness to see the world from another’s point of view, and the courage to learn and adjust our own perspectives accordingly;
May we have the malleability to transform our daily lives and structures, develop authentic ways of living and being, and find peace in this ever-changing world;
May we work to spread peace in our world, across lands both near and far, and may we nurture the understanding and tolerance for each other that is necessary to do so.
The world is what we make of it, and 2025 is putty in our hands right now—the question is, what will we create? What do we want to see in the world?
So, here’s to what we learned in 2024, and to what 2025 has in store for us.
Happy New Year, Mashpee!