The Word Is…

What’s your word for 2024?

Do you have one?

We need some positive energy out there, people!

Did you realize we have an election coming in the U.S.? War is going on in several places in the world. Global temperatures are rising. Inequities and gaps are growing.  Our world needs some fresh and lively energy. 

And you can be part of it. 

The idea here is to choose a word that represents the energy and positive force you want to bring into this new year. Have you decided what yours might be?

I’m part of a spirituality book group, and last week everyone shared their words for the upcoming year. They were inspiring. They can be things like purpose. Confidence. Love. Or even things like Bloom.

For the last two years, my theme has been joyful ease. I set that one back in 2022. But I could tell I needed more time hanging out with that one. So, I used it again in 2023.

This year, I’m ready for a new one. 

What would mine be for 2024?

The answer came from a training I participated in, back in December.

In this training, we were working through a cool exercise choosing from a card deck of photos to express a story in our life. We chose one card that best expressed this story in the past, one card for the present, and one for the future. For the present card, I chose a funny close-up photo of a giraffe’s face and tongue—because it made me laugh there was even a giraffe face in this deck. My son and I had just fed one at a zoo back in November.

Once you chose your cards, the other people in the group—without knowing why we chose the ones we did—were asked to describe all of what they saw and felt from the cards. What came up for them as they studied the images and everything that was in it? 

As the other three people in my small group described mine, they observed the eyes of the giraffe—What is he seeing, they asked? He was so dramatic. They noted how giraffes are often standing—there’s a diligence about them—standing sentry. But there is also whimsicalness there.

One person the group said, “What if it’s all meant to be silly and magical?”

And that phrase caught my attention.

I loved it. As someone who is perpetually responsible and productive, this phrase resonated. 

So, I decided I needed a whole phrase for 2024. It would be “What if it’s all supposed to be silly and magical?”

I have been thinking about ways to bring this into my life. One Sunday, for example, it was still snowing, and we had eight or ten inches on the ground. We gave ourselves snowshoes for Christmas about two years ago and have never used them because of the lack of good snow. I texted my partner, who was not home at the time, “When you get home, let’s go try out our snowshoes!”

By the time he got home, it was almost 4:30. If you know anything about winter in New England, by that time, it is starting to get dark. But darn it, we strapped on those snowshoes and went tromping into the woods behind our house through the fresh snow. It was a bit silly because it was dusk going into night, so we only had about 20 minutes, but it was downright magical.

Then, as I was driving home the other day, a car was ahead of me. The license plate was W84FRI. I thought that was super cute. But then I also noticed something in the back window.

“What is that?” I thought. 

And then I realized: It was a dozen stuffed owls. All standing up, side by side, looking out the back window.

Watching me behind them.

It made me laugh out loud.

Owls are about the night. About prophecy. You can call on owl when you are going through a dark period and need some help navigating it. They are about tapping into intuitive wisdom. 

My intuitive wisdom was, “I want to know this person!” 

What prompts someone (who puts W84FRI on their vanity plate, by the way) to own that many stuffed owls? And even better, what prompts them to position their collection of owls staring backwards in the rear window of their car?

Someone who is silly and magical, of course.

So, that’s my theme for 2024: Thanks to the giraffes and the owls.

What’s yours? If you want some fresh ideas, check these out.

Have a comment? Please share on social media or contact Kellie here.