2024 Word of the Year: Move
My Word of the Year for 2023 was a phrase: Maximum Joy. I intended to choose the things, experiences, and especially people that would bring me Maximum Joy throughout the year. While I overall feel like I was mediocre in 2023, I think I did a good job of choosing Maximum Joy. I spent time with friends, went to church, joined a small group, and spent countless hours in a bubble bath with a good book. I also chose to take a job that would move me to Knoxville and that was, perhaps, my biggest opportunity to choose Maximum Joy.
It took longer than usual to settle on a word for 2024. I prayed about it. I journaled about it. I’ll admit it, I even Googled ‘Word of the Year’ for inspiration. One word kept coming back to me though. It was an odd word, especially given some of my other declarations for the year. Yet I know when a word or a thought or a feeling nags at me, it’s important. There is something I need to know or see or do. So I sat with that word and I realized it is the perfect Word of the Year for 2024.
That word is…
MOVE.
I know what you’re thinking.
“Sarah, haven’t you moved a lot over the last few years?”
Yes, I have. I talk about that some over on Substack. When I say my Word of the Year for 2024 is Move, I do not mean pack my life up in boxes (again) and load up a moving truck. I am hopeful that I’ll be staying put for the foreseeable future (I admit it – I feel like I’m tempting fate by putting that out there!). Moving houses/cities/states is mentally and physically exhausting and I both want and need to be in one place for a while to come.
Instead of physically moving, I want to MOVE in 2024.
Remember how I said I felt I was mediocre in 2023?
The word ‘Move’ is the antidote to that mediocrity.
The definition of Move:
go in a specified direction or manner; change position.
or:
make progress; develop in a particular manner or direction.
That’s what I need to do in 2024: move in a specified direction or manner; make progress.
I set big goals for 2024 that require me to Move. To take action. To do the damn thing. I didn’t reach a single one of my goals in 2023 because I didn’t Move. Sure, I physically moved from Nashville to Knoxville. But I didn’t take action towards my big goals. I didn’t get my book published or put myself out there on the dating scene nearly enough. I didn’t cultivate community well, choosing to stay in instead of going somewhere alone in hopes that I would meet a new friend. I could go on and on about how I didn’t Move in 2023, but that’s 2023.
It’s 2024 now.
MOVE is my Word of the Year for 2024.
This year, I will focus on Moving towards my goals. I will put effort into Moving towards the best version of me. I will focus on Moving in the direction of the vision I’m cultivating for my life.
I will MOVE.
Less sitting still. Less choosing comfort over discomfort. Less letting life happen instead of being an active participant. I will MOVE and I will also let God MOVE through me, whatever that may look like.
I’m excited to MOVE this year and to see what that movement creates.
What is your Word of the Year for 2024?
