My Word of the Year for 2024

“All I know is that I know nothing.” –Socrates

Hi there!

I hope you had a lovely Christmas/holiday/break and are slowly getting back into your daily routines. Butterbean just started back at school on Wednesday, so it’s been slow going for me.

My first essay of the past few New Years has been about choosing a Word of the Year to help set some intentions for the upcoming year, while also reflecting on the previous year.

In 2021, I tried to branch out and Grow upward.
In 2022, I tried to dig down to the roots and go Deeper.
In 2023, I tried to zoom out to Harmonize what matters most.

Last year I continued my trajectory of improving my overall well-being and I’m feeling good at the start of 2024. Here’s a quick look back at last year in Might-Could-Land:

• I started The Art of Wisdom essay series and wrote 13 installments

• I kept working on my We Are Jellyfish book and shared 11 process posts

• I allowed myself to take a break when things started to get too overwhelming

• I launched the Sketchbook to Style book, which I had been wanting to do for years!

• I’m still off social media! I quit all social media in April 2022 and never went back, so I’ve been off for over a year and a half now. No regrets—one of the best decisions I ever made. (Join us in our Substack Chat for a more low-key way to share your art!)

• I’m still not drinking! I quit drinking alcohol in August 2022 and also never went back, so I’ve been alcohol-free for a year and four months—that’s 504 days!

• I became even more involved in my local community. I’m still serving on the two local boards I’m on and I got to help design two (about to be 3!) exhibits for the local children’s museum. My family also became members at a church here in town and have somehow already joined 3 groups within it!

• I got lost artistically but am finding my way back. I struggled A LOT with the final art of my We Are Jellyfish book, but I finally refound my guiding star and have some ideas for how to continue.

• We relaunched Might Could Draw Today! With the help of two long-time artist-friends we’re back to our weekly drawing themes right here in Substack Chat!

• I had a breakthrough in my quest to define what artists do (and why we do it): Artists don’t show us how to live—they show us what it’s like to live.

• Oh yeah, and I discovered the secret of life.

After reading through the recap list I wrote last year, and then writing this recap list today, I’m seeing some themes. In 2021, I learned that struggle and difficulty are just a part of life. In 2022, I slowly accepted that and realized “perfect balance” in life is impossible. In 2023, I slowly let go of my plans for what could be and my regrets of what was and found myself pleasantly sinking into what is.

Now, don’t misunderstand me, I’m not saying I don’t have goals for this year and my life in general. Of course I do. But I hold them so much more lightly then I have in years past. Because I know now that life is unpredictable and the future is unknowable. I might plan to work 5 hours on my book tomorrow, but then the school calls and all of a sudden Butterbean is home sick on the couch and I want to be with her and take care of her instead. We have to allow for some wiggle room and be adaptable to what is happening right at this moment.

Of course, I’m human, and I don’t do that 100% of the time. I still find myself sometimes getting swept up by future-thinking or past-ruminating. For example, towards the end of the year, I started to get very frustrated with my book. I had thoughts of: ‘I need to go live in a secluded cabin by myself so I can finish this book in the next month!’ And also: ‘I have wasted so much time on this book and haven’t made any progress at all and I should just burn it all!’

Well, neither of these mindsets are realistic or helpful in actually creating a piece of art.

But the difference last year is that I was able to be aware of those thoughts so much quicker than before, sometimes immediately after thinking them. And the awareness allowed me to do something about them instead of giving in to their anxious-depressiveness. Usually that meant taking a break. Spending time with Butterbean, going on a walk, eating a snack, anything to ground myself away from feeling I was in a creative catastrophe (because of course I wasn’t, I was merely in the creative process).

Anyways, I suppose I should get to the point. My word of the year this year is Unknowing.

In previous years, I’ve begun the year subtly thinking, ‘Oh, now I’ve got this figured out and so now I’m going to do this and this and this!’ But upon reflecting on that year the next January, I inevitably realize ‘Ha, I thought I knew what I was doing but actually I was kind of wrong and this is what I’m going to do this year!’

So basically what I’m saying is that I know now that I know nothing. And duh, I’m not the first person who’s realized that: Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Confucious, Lao Tzu, Albert Einstein, and who knows who else has said this before. But I feel I’ve internalized it this year, and I think, when used with an optimistic view, it could be a solid word of intention for 2024.

In January, I usually make some changes, schedules, and deadlines for the year. This year, I’m not doing that. Because who knows what could happen! But I do have some loosey-goosey goals:

• Work on We Are Jellyfish

• Work on turning my Picture Books I and II classes into a book (similar to Sketchbook to Style)

• Draw in my sketchbook

You’ll notice, those aren’t goals that can be accomplished and finished. My goal is just to work on these things—I have no idea how much I’ll be able to get done in a year. Who knows?! I know nothing! But I’m coming into this year with the mindset of just slowly chipping away at those goals, as time and life allow, and at least I’ll make a little bit of progress on projects that matter to me.

What Happenin’ in this Substack!

Lastly, here’s a quick summary of how I Might Could Do That! is currently set up going into 2024. Like last year, I aim to send one essay or book process post every week, rotating between the two as I wish.

(🆓) Free subscribers get 50% of my writings, while (🔒) paid subscribers get 100%. (Which psst… is 50% off if you upgrade by the end of January!)

• 🎨 Might Could Essays: Essay content varies, but it all revolves around how to live as an artist, mom, and human being. Current series: The Art of Wisdom.

• 📚 Might Could Make a Book: Sharing the process behind making my in-progress book. Current book: We Are Jellyfish. About to start: Making Picture Books based on my online courses on writing and illustrating PBs.

• ✏️ Might Could Draw Today: Might Could Draw Today (MCDT) is an initiative aimed to gently encourage us to make time for drawing, within a supportive and uplifting environment of artists from around the world. A new theme is posted by me or friends in our Substack Chat every Monday!

In 2021, I tried to branch out and Grow upward.
In 2022, I tried to dig down to the roots and go Deeper.
In 2023, I tried to zoom out and Harmonize what matters most.
In 2024, I’m contentedly sinking into Unknowing.

“Opening, closing the Gate of Heaven,
can you be like a bird with her nestlings?
Piercing bright through the cosmos,
can you know by not knowing?”

–Tao Te Ching, Ursula K. Le Guin translation

Thanks for reading! Do you have a word of intention for this year? I’d love to hear what you’ve got up your sleeve for 2024!

<3,
Christine