2024 Word of the Year
I’m laughing inside because I drifted into three other activities between writing the headline and this sentence. Why is that amusing? Here’s my word of the year: focus. And, yes, it evokes the photography projects. And I also feel a hope for focus in other areas of my life.
The medications that I take these days can be overwhelming. My mind can drift. Disappear into social media feeds. Zone out on television shows. But rarely can read. Or plan plans. Or even execute executive function lists. Not catastrophically, but unfamiliar.
I engage in projects and languish in many ideas. I wander in my imagination. And the past few months, with long-term antibiotics, this is where I am right now. Beating myself up mentally, attempting to shame myself into a sense of “productivity”” is going to be self-destructive. A gift of time is amazing to extend to anyone, especially ourselves. Giving myself the time to heal, yet again, yet longer, is frustrating. But really, if I focus on making the most of this moment, without raging at limits, or lamenting challenges, or wishing for more sleep, well, that could be quite a year.
AI took a little training to make the letters work :). The second frame still made me smile.
My biggest hope is to get a break from health issues that drag at my energy and … focus. Last year, the cough and, we discovered, lung infection, was all year long. Diagnosed in November. The entire year, I was sick. Sicker than usual. So I would love, love, love a break from that. But that may involve allowing medicine and downtime to do their thing.
So as I face decisions, ideas, and adventures, I hope I take a moment to focus, to breathe, and decide what aligns with what I hope to build today and long-term. Showing up here is part of that focus. So cheers to important ideas,
See, even here, I found each type of “focus” image inspired another and another. I needed one, and ended up with many. That’s okay. It’s all okay. Happy new year!
PS I had the title at 2023 Word of the Year until a couple of minutes after I wrote the entire thing. Goodness gracious 😂
