A friend’s post on Facebook earlier this week asked everyone to share their word for 2024. One word for 2024? That’s daunting. Everywhere you look, people are wearing “their word” on bracelets, necklaces, and rings. They might have a rock on their desk or plaque on their wall, hanging with their word. Etsy is having a field day. Nobody loves inspirational words more than I do. But to choose just one that represents so much? That would be very hard for me.

I do love words so I considered the request. One of my favorite party games is Code Names where you need to choose only one word that will describe a bunch of other random words on cards. Your teammates need to figure out which other words/cards you’re referring to with your single word. I’m not good at the game.

So it’s no surprise that in the 20 seconds I allotted to consider this post, I couldn’t choose just one perfect word to describe what I want to get out of 2024. As I went back to scrolling through my newsfeed that open tab was still running in my brain. I decided that if I had to choose, maybe I would choose the word intentional. I think it would be great to set specific daily goals and forge paths in specific directions, all year long. But the word intentional doesn’t hold a lot of energy for me, my interest in being on Facebook had ended, so I moved on with my day without sharing a word. As we are each affected by everyone and everything we meet, this idea was a sticky thought however, and it quietly set up residence in my brain, nestled among some other thoughts.

Fast forward to a neighborhood walk I took by myself the next day. When I take walks I tend not to listen to music, podcasts, or chat on the phone. I simply gaze around, smelling the air, hearing the sounds, allowing my thoughts some room to wander. On this particular chilly walk, the sun’s beams were in the right position to rest perfectly on people’s holiday decorations, and ornaments and crystals shimmered seductively from trees. One particularly iridescent decoration changed colors naturally as it slowly twisted and caught the sunlight in different ways. The colors and shape of this small sculpture were so pleasing to me that I felt a burst of inner joy and let out a happy giggle. And then I thought: Delight! A young child was laughing contagiously nearby and it gave me that same feeling and once again I thought: Delight! And in those delightful moments my word for 2024 found me.

I realized that a year filled with delight would be an amazing year. As we enter 2024, we are not unburdened and although we’d love to be only excited about the upcoming year, there is a lot of understandable pain and cynicism. My wish for each one of us is that we be able to find and appreciate the delightful small and big moments, when they appear, even if we’re also experiencing challenging times. May we be present enough to notice and find beauty and joy all around us. May we have interactions with others, nature, and ourselves that tickle us with joy.

Feeling delight feels empowering to me. It feels like a choice. I can look for, allow, and notice when something fills me with delight. I’m also going to keep intentional as my runner up word during this next year. I believe there is still room for a few more inspirational words. So if you’d like to add any empowering words to our 2024 blessing, I’d truly appreciate it.

Wishing you an intentional 2024 filled with delight!