I is for I AM. My official word/tag for this topic is “inimitable” after the Hamilton lyric “I am inimitable I am an original” For those of you who understood the word in context but maybe haven’t looked up the actual definition of inimitable, it is one of my favorite words and the official definition is: “so good or unusual as to be impossible to copy; unique” Or, as the popular quote goes- “no one is you, that is your super power”

“I am” is also a homonym for “iamb” or the rhythmic unit Shakespeare uses in so much of his verse. The iamb mirrors our heart beat in its unstressed and then stressed meter- da DUM da DUM da DUM da DUM da DUM.

I AM is also the name God gives Moses as the name Moses can use to refer to God. And part of my focus in writing about I am is in exploring who I am as far as who God made me to be- and how I am on the continual journey to discover that inimitable me and get through the lies I tell myself about who I am, especially on my bad days, and remember who I truly am.

The past few years I have felt very lonely at times because my personal life situation can feel so different from that of friends or of those I follow online. It is hard sometimes not to look at that as a fault or weakness or even an unfair trick of the universe. In 2022 I am working on owning my story, my unique situations, and my decisions that are coming out of those two things.

So here are a few things I am right now: I am human. I am a theatre artist. I am a writer. I am a mom. I am a runner. I am a wife. I am a part of the communion of saints. I am a woman. I am a hiking and yoga enthusiast. I am imperfect. I am persistent. I am a goofball. I am such an Enneagram 1w2 it hurts sometimes. I am a fan of pizza and pasta and bread and making all those from scratch. I am an insatiable reader. I am a sister, a daughter, a friend, a teacher. I am a whirling mass of contradictions because I contain multitudes. I am so much more than I could ever write in one paragraph. I am inimitable, I am an original… just like you.

So I should have plenty to write about for this topic this year…