Three Little Words

I think it was Tiffany who said some of her facebook people were choosing three words for their year instead of making New Year's Resolutions. Felicity and Katie have done one word again, which I admire greatly but did not have the focus to accomplish this time. I'm all for minimizing and simplifying my home, my to-do lists, and my wardrobe (less but better is the goal), but when it came to words for my year, I was greedy.

I chose three. They encompass my wishes and my priorities. I'm hoping to use them to guide all those moments that lead to should-I-or-shouldn't-I, which thing first, and would-I-be-proud-to-mention-it-in-the-Oscar-speech - everyday questions like that.

My first word is STORY. I want to be a storyteller more than anything. I want to do it through books and poems and screenplays and blog posts and any other medium I can manage. I believe stories are powerful. At the Golden Globes last night, Eric Stonestreet from Modern Family said that the creator of their show has the ability to capture what happens in all our lives all the time and show it back to us. I love that about Story. And I love the way it can show us not just what is, but what can be.

My second word is HOME. I'd really like a new house. But if we don't buy a different plot of ground somewhere, at least we'll buy paint and carpet and new furniture. The house that holds our home is getting a makeover this year if our resolve has anything to do with it. And besides that, Home is the most important thing to me regardless of the walls and couches. I like my husband and my children and all our dreams for each other. And I'm going to pour all of me all the time into this little world with the hopes that it will eventually unleash good things on the big one.

From John

My last word is BELIEVE. I've spent several years now pretty sure I need more bravery in my life. I knew I needed to sit around dreaming less and instead, do. I started a blog, wrote a book, signed a contract with an actual literary agent, wrote another book, revised it a few million times with more revision to come, started a third book, went to creative conferences, took on freelance work to help grow in the craft, and more. All doing. This year I want to do even more. But I think there comes a moment to wish on the falling star again. There's a little magic in the kind of success that happens in the storytelling business. A dab of luck is needed. And a whole lot of Dear Lord, if it be your will. I need some of that for the first word and some of it for the second. I need it to get out of bed in the morning at cold-dark-thirty when it's impossible to remember the point to life. I need it because it's cancer checkup time, and I'm afraid. I need it for every single minute of every single day for goodness sake.

If Alice can believe six impossible things before breakfast, surely I can believe for these.