STORY: My 2024 Word of the Year
On plot, imagination, and creative work.
On Tuesday night, I picked up Kate DiCamillo’s latest novel, The Puppets of Spelhorst. DiCamillo is an automatic read for me—I love everything she writes1. I checked this out from the library just before Christmas and didn’t get to it during the flood of seasonal books, but it was overdue and needed to be read. It’s short (only 149 pages) with full-page illustrations and a large font, so I knew I could read it in one sitting.
Laying in bed, a heating pad at my feet, I opened the book—going in blind but knowing the author was trustworthy. On the second page, DiCamillo writes, “The king and the wolf and the girl and the boy and the owl were puppets, and they were waiting for a story to begin.”
I have been choosing a “word of the year” since 2013, which you likely know if you’ve hung around me for any length of time or read much of my writing. It’s my preferred brand of new year’s resolution, because it is open-ended and gentle and full of possibility. There is no failure here. I chose a word, and I’ve thought about it a little—success.
But it is very much a “you get what you put in” situation, and I love putting energy toward this project every year. Some years are more meaningful than others, but I’ve never once regretted it. `
In 2023, my word was “enough.” As time ticked by, I struggled to connect with enough as well as I had with other words. I wasn’t quite keeping up with the monthly prompts from the workshop I participate in, and though I was keeping the word in mind, I didn’t really feel like I was “getting anywhere” (whatever that means).
But as the year came to an end and I took the chance to reflect, I realized that enough really had carried me. Most significantly, I quit my job back in May. And though the circumstances leading to that decision were heartbreaking and I worried about the ramifications for other people, I never doubted my decision was the right one. And since that time, peace and contentment have continued to be the predominant feelings I have around work and vocation—despite the fact I can’t remember another time in my life when I didn’t carry angst around questions like, “Am I spending my time well?” and “What am I doing with my life?” and “What career path am I on?” and “Have I struck the right balance between home/work/motherhood/ambition?”
When I decided to quit, I was able to trust my intuition, the deep knowing I felt, the voice of the Spirit within me. And as the year went on, I remained certain of the path I had chosen. And what is that, if not an affirmation that everything is enough as it is?
“Enough” ended up being about intuition and trust, about befriending reality. And in that way, “enough” became the tangible outworking of God’s grace and mercy to me in 2023.
I don’t know why “story” came to me, but it happened where so many epiphanies do: in the shower. I had been tossing around all sorts of ideas and phrases (connect? creative? show up?) but none felt quite right. When “story” came to mind, I felt settled. And I decided to let even that be enough.
So, let’s get practical. What am I thinking? What are my intentions for this word?
Of course, I want to read good stories! This is the most obvious thing. More generally, I am thinking about consuming more long-form content (books, movies, longer analysis) and less short-form (social media, breaking news stories, YouTube, emails).
I want to write! In particular, I have an idea for a novel. I wrote about 5,000 words in 2022 and promptly abandoned it. I hesitate to say it aloud (or write it down) because ugh, accountability. But despite the fact that it feels scary and will be a lot of work, I want to write this story.
I want to keep scrapbooking. I took a long break from this hobby in 2015-2020. (That was my “tiny house, postpartum depression, 2 big moves, drowning in babies” Era.) I started again when we moved to this house, and so many stories from those 5 years are waiting to be documented.
I am thinking about Scripture, which has been a struggle for me lately. What if I focus on the Gospels this year, returning to the stories of Jesus’s life?
“What’s the plot?” A good story requires action, movement, and conflict—three things I am very good at avoiding (in true Enneagram 9 style). What if I don’t?
I am thinking a lot about Brené Brown’s phrase, “The story I’m telling myself is…” What stories am I telling myself? Which are serving me? Which are not and need to be let go?
I am thinking about God’s story—I believe God is telling a story and invites us to participate. What will this look like for me in the year ahead? What do I need to remember? Where does my imagination need to grow?
My favorite thing about choosing a word of the year is the many surprising places the word will show up, as long as I’m paying attention—like when I picked up The Puppets of Spelhorst last night.
The puppets are displayed together in a toy store window when an old, lonely sea captain walks by. He wants the girl, whose violet eyes remind him of a past love. The shopkeeper refuses to separate the set. “The puppets must be purchased together or not at all,” he says, “for they are in a story.” The captain relents and brings them all home, and from there they are shuffled around from owner to owner. They want to fly, to rule, to consume, to save, to love—but instead they languish in a heap at the bottom of a trunk. This is true until they land in the hands of Emma, a girl with a story to tell—and tell it, she does.
When Emma’s puppet show has ended, the girl puppet wonders aloud if there will be another story for them to perform in.
“There must be,” said the boy. “That must be the point of it, the purpose. We must contain stories upon stories, stories without end.”
The girl looked out the window at the outline of the trees. She could see a few stars studded between the branches.
Stories without end—watching them unfold, being a part of their unfolding—what a blessing that would be.
Stories without end,
Lindsey
I also love that DiCamillo is a Florida Gator, but that’s not the point here.
I loved that book, and I loved reading about your word! Excited to hear more about your writing- what genre/age category does your idea fit in?
I love the idea of “story” as your word! And reading the Gospels sounds like a great plan. You could spend time looking at different translations. I think I even saw on Amazon where someone had published a version of them all as one cohesive narrative.