Many of you will already be familiar with the practice of choosing an annual theme word. It’s a practice I’ve been leaning into since roughly 2016 or so. Perhaps a bit further back… I don’t really recall. But this year, 2024, for whatever strange reason, I chose the word Joy.
Certainly, Joy, in and of itself is a lovely concept to connect with over the course of a year.
It just so happened that this particular year was for me – well, peculiar. Perplexing. Difficult. Trying. Spacious. Heart-wrenching. Hope-instilling. Forgiveness filled. Tinted with moments of anguish and frustration, as well as deep gratitude and the strangest hints of real, grounded happiness. Laughter. Brightness. Lightness of spirit. In short, Joy.
And, as I find myself gathering pieces of personas past, touching in with the spaces in my heart that I’ve left (left is not the right word – perhaps chosen to make whisper) in the quiet, and preparing to leave 2024 as tidy as possible with the type of bookend that might help it feel complete, I am aware of how gentle Joy can be.
She, accompanied by Grace, sits just atop my pile of partially read books and notebooks, smiling at me. She revels in the notes of Mrs. Darcy by the English Chamber Orchestra playing quietly across the bedroom, and swings her small feet, fairy-like in her casual sense of wonder. Her smile nudges me, as if to say, “Look at your kittens. Look how peacefully they’re curled at the foot of the bed, faces tucked into paws, blankets strewn about their sweet soft bodies, lulled to sleep by the comforting sound of the heater. How joyful that it purrs with them. How lovely that the strand of holiday lights across the room glows warm and inviting. How peaceful it is to curl up in bed.”
After maintaining a blog on my previous website for over 15 years, beginning again here feels both tender and aligned. We shall see where it goes.
And to do so with the aid of Joy – well, I consider myself lucky to welcome such good company.
May Joy visit you as well as we wrap up this year. And may she surprise you as often as possible in many years to come.
💜,
Jen