It’s that time of year again, when we start a new year full of hope and promise. Many people are making resolutions or setting goals for the year, planning all of the ways they are going to be better or do better this year.

Once upon a time, I was just like them, making elaborate goals for how I was going to be a better, different person. Then one year I simply said I wanted to end the year happier than I started it. And that worked. Then I chose to be happier and healthier. Then happier, healthier and wealthier. Then I started choosing a word of the year and setting crazy goals. At the beginning of 2023, I had a word (Manifest), and approximately 15 project books I was going to complete, as well as all of this other stuff I was going to be doing every day/week/month. And we all know how that worked out.

This year I’m stripping it all away and just focusing on a word. No goals, no project books, no resolutions or expectations. Yes, there are things that I would like to accomplish (and hopefully will). But I’m not putting any pressure on myself, because I’ve had enough of that.

I took a lot of time choosing my word for this year. I thought I had settled on one that I believed would be the right word for me- REINVENTION- but it just didn’t feel quite right. And then I realized there was something that needed to happen before I would be ready to reinvent myself again. So I added a few new words to the list of contenders and knew the moment I hit on the right one for me and where I am in my life right now.

So my word for 2024 is:

HEAL

I have been so mentally and emotionally damaged, that I need to focus on healing those injuries before I will ever be successful in reinventing myself. And my physical health could use some work as well. So that is where my focus will be this year: healing my spirit, my heart, and my body.

And one of the ways to help heal myself is through connection, so I hope to be more active again in the book community in all of my spheres. That means more blogging, commenting more, interacting more on socials, and maybe joining a bookish community group in my area. The last one really scares me, but hopefully I can get there.

I do have a few reading goals for the year, so I’m not completely goal-less. But I am not going to pressure myself if it looks like I won’t reach them. And I have some loose plans for things I’d like to accomplish, but again, I’m not putting any pressure on myself. I don’t want things to blow up on me again, or to become completely overwhelmed. Pressure is the exact opposite of what this year is about for me.

I’ll be talking about some of the things I’m working on, as well as some of the things that I’ve been thinking about, throughout the month. And will be giving updates periodically throughout the year on some of them as well. But I won’t be doing big accountability posts or anything like that. Again, this year is about healing and an absence of pressure. But hopefully you’ll be seeing more of me, and me in a better frame of mind, than you did this past year.

Let’s begin, shall we?