One Word, 2024

I have a confession to make for my first post of 2024:  I’m finding that I dread writing posts for this blog more and more frequently.  I’m not sure where the dread is coming from, but I know that I don’t like it, and I do not want it to become a reason to quit writing.  If I post this writing, it will be my 122nd post, with an additional 31 drafts that I have started, but not published, since January of 2021.  Three years of writing.  I regret none of it, I’ve gained much from it, and I hope to continue.

I suppose the dread comes from the commitment.  This blog has been a significant self-imposed commitment.  I have committed to posting every Sunday by 1:00 p.m.  I’ve missed the mark more weeks than I’d like to admit, particularly in 2023, but I’ve published 121 posts.  Not bad.

The funny thing is, once I sit down in front of my computer screen, the words often just come to me…  as they are at this very moment.  They may not make sense or have meaning to others, but they help to accomplish the goals I set when I started on this writing venture (from January 1, 2021):

1.  Document my learning journey as a teacher, coach, and student
2.  Improve my writing craft through reflection
3.  Act as a producer rather than a consumer
4.  Push my thinking
5.  Connect with others

I think the only thing that I would change about these goals, three years later, is a small but significant addition to Goal #1:  Document my learning and unlearning as a teacher, coach, and student.  Because there is much unlearning to do, right alongside new learning.

The dread I’m confessing to connects to my One Word for 2024:  Embrace.  I’ll go into this in more detail in a bit, but for now I’ll just say that I need to embrace the dread.

The One Word Challenge came my way a few years ago after reading an email or social media post from Jon Gordon.  As described on the One Word website:  “One Word creates clarity, power, passion and life-change. The simple power of One Word is that it impacts all six dimensions of your life – mental, physical, emotional, relational, spiritual, and financial. Simply put, One Word sticks. There is a word meant for you and when you find it, live it, and share it, your life will become more rewarding and exciting than ever.”  I honestly can’t say that I’ve reaped all of the benefits of choosing One Word for the last several years, but it has been rewarding enough that I have now chosen my fourth One Word.

A quick reflection on past chosen words:

• 2021:  Perseverance
• 2022:  Clarity – chosen as a means to seek clarity as an instructional coach, a consumer, and a mother… I’ll never tire of reading Khalil Gibran’s On Children 
• 2023:  Authenticity – chosen because of my mom, the most authentic person I know
• 2024:  Embrace

As with the previous three years, other words have come to mind when “choosing” my One Word.  Persist kept popping in my head, especially after watching A Man Called Otto, where the character Marisol persisted at making a connection with her curmudgeon-of-a-neighbor, Otto.  I can’t recommend this movie enough, as with the book that it is based on, A Man Called Ove.

Embrace won out, so here we go 2024!  As I look at the year ahead and reflect on years past, I commit to embracing whatever comes my way.  According to Google’s online dictionary, “embrace” has three meanings:

1. hold (someone) closely in one’s arms, especially as a sign of affection.
   

   An embrace between my mom and my niece, sharing some very exciting news!

2. accept or support (a belief, theory, or change) willingly and enthusiastically.

   The Science of Reading, anyone???

3. include or contain (something) as a constituent part.
   I often include quotes in my blogposts.  Two of my favorite quotes include the word embrace:

I will embrace challenges:  2024 is starting off with a significant decline in Mom’s health.  I will embrace the challenge, made easier by my amazing siblings who are all contributing to the care for both parents.   I will embrace the snowstorm that placed my sister and I in our parents’ home for the night, right where we need to be.

The former West Point library, as seen from my parents’ front door 1-9-24

I will embrace those that I hold most dear to my heart.   I know to take none for granted.

My dad, Reed Haeger, on one of our “date nights”

My mom, Sue Haeger, authentic to the core

Bill and the boys – my everything

I will embrace the space created by our house remodel, which allows for food, fun, and fellowship.

I will embrace time for rest.  The break from school between Christmas and the New Year has been good for my soul, and a reminder to embrace rest.  And to enjoy good books.  I highly, highly recommend The Frozen River, by Ariel Lawhon:

I will embrace my ability to engage in physical activity, which allows for processing, peace of mind, and access to scenes like the following, which never get old:

Finally, I will embrace the dread that has crept up with maintaining this blog.  As tough as it can be at times, putting words to the page continues to be both healing and rewarding.  What will you embrace during 2024?