National Find Your Inner Nerd Day 

You Might Be A Nerd If ………

August 23, 2025

Today’s the Day! Embrace your Inner Nerd, and set her free.

Back in the 1950s, the term “Nerd” was frequently heard to describe someone in a negative sense: “He’s not attractive;” “She’s awkward at socializing;” “What dorky glasses he’s wearing;” “She’s so shy.”  Before that time, “Geek” was the popular word in play. However, many of today’s Nerds and Geeks have proudly broken free of those decades-old definitions by tossing them aside and rewriting dictionaries.

While the terms “Nerd” and “Geek” are often used interchangeably, some dictionaries are splitters. You can find Nerds described as people typically associated with intellectual pursuits and academic achievement, often focusing on mastering skills and knowledge, where Geeks are known for their intense enthusiasm of specific hobbies or interests, particularly in areas like technology, science fiction, or gaming.

Not to nit-pick an officially-designated celebration, it appears National Find Your Inner Nerd Day has merged Nerd with Geek, matching a 2024 dictionary definition….. and I paraphrase: “Nerd” is someone who’s extremely enthusiastic and wise about a subject or something they’re passionate about, and who excitedly and obsessively talks about it while paying extraordinary attention to details. 

Are you an Inner Nerd? 

Deep down inside do you identify with parts or even all of those words and phrases that attempt to describe a Nerdy you? You do? Awesome!            Still not sure (or “On the Fence” and)/or not willing to admit to your Inner Nerdiness? Being someone who’s a self-identified Nerd, having recognized and accepted my quirkiness for decades, let me help! 

You might be an Inner Nerd if:

-you’re an academic, a book-worm, into classic movies, or a Trekkie;

-you knit holiday clothes every year for your dog, all your friend’s dogs, the neighbor’s dogs, and the humane society;

-you collect Pez dispensers, antique buttons, bars of soap, or banana labels;

-you collect Adventure Labs, GeoArt, EarthCaches, TravelBugs, and Geocoins;

-your house is full of stuffed toys from around the world; you ask friends to bring you a skein of yarn every time they travel somewhere new; the closet in your craft room holds more bolts of fabric than Hancock’s of Paducah, because you ‘never know;’

-you’re passionate about learning as much as you can about anything new and then sharing everything with everyone you meet;

-you’re obsessed about your daily creative practice in the fine arts (drawing, painting, music, song, dancing, acting), or creative writing (poetry, prose, essays, short stories), or in the culinary arts; 

-you have a rock from every state in the U.S., a pressed leaf from every deciduous tree in your county, a photo of front doors from all your neighbors’ homes, and neighboring neighbors’ homes;

-you’re obsessed about scrapbooking, making botanical inks, filling journal after journal with nature sketches, storytelling, song writing;

-your collection of art supplies rivals Jerry’s Artarama; your own more ukuleles than Jake Shimabukuro;

-and on and on and on! 

Being a Nerd is about embracing what you love and sharing all of your nerdy habits, collections, hobbies, and passions. Being a Nerd is about wanting to inspire others to embrace their inner nerdiness, too!  Isn’t it time to show the world how amazing your differences are? Isn’t it time to embrace your quirkiness and  share what you love?

And if you need more convincing, have no fear!  Nerds are some of the coolest people in the world, if not the world’s most creative and successful. They’re always up for learning new things and love to share what they have learned with others. National Find Your Inner Nerd Day gives permission for everyone to explore their inner nerd, because everyone has a little inner nerdiness inside ready to be set free! Nerds aren’t weird, Nerds are wonderfully unique!  So let’s celebrate our quirky nature and love ourselves for who we really are. 

Let’s Celebrate Our Inner Nerd 

1. If you’re a collector of things, take the day to share your treasures with other people. Give them a glimpse inside your mind and share your enthusiasm about your collection. 
2. Join a local club that offers similar interests to yours. Book clubs, art clubs, bird watching clubs, nature clubs, car clubs, astronomy clubs, cooking clubs , and stamp collecting clubs can always be found. The best way to meet people like you is to find people like you. 
3. Attend a convention, such as Comicon, Star Trek, Anime, QuiltCon, National Narrow Gauge, and  Association of Speciality Cut Flowers, and see how fun and enthusiastic Nerds really are! Start by searching in your local area to find something that interests you. 

And lastly ……. Are you a self proclaimed Inner Nerd? Are you ready to finally submit to your Inner Nerdiness? What are you obsessed about; passionate about? Do you have an insatiable curiosity about one thing; lots of things? Are you a collector (of what); a dedicated and driven learner? Please share your uniqueness with family, friends, and me! Oh how I’d love to know!

I hope this post was fun! As always, thanks for dropping by!

P.S. I’ve been a self-proclaimed Inner Nerd for most of my life (and that’s a lot of years!). It’s been an ever changing, non-stop circular journey of obsessions and passions involving art, music, science and nature. Right now I’m passionate about nature journaling on a daily basis, and the joy of non-stop learning and sharing the limitless diversity of our natural world. Oh, and I’m crazy about my daily connections with art, Flambé, and storytelling through Zentangle.