HAPPY NEW YEAR!
It’s Poetry Friday!
Our first Poetry Friday round up of 2024 is hosted by my Nevermores poetry partner – and librarian extraordinaire Marcie Flinchum Atkins! Carve out time to enjoy her incredible macro-photography haikus and marvel over the incredible reading list she compiled for 2023!
..What can I set down at the end of this year instead of carrying it into the new one? What can I loosen or release?
Begin where you are, as you are. That’s more than enough.
I am done with BUT.
It was a great holiday, BUT everyone got Covid!
I loved having everyone home, BUT it was too many days.
Christmas is lovely, BUT I’m ready for it to be over.
He’ll eat pasta, BUT where are the vegetables?
Resolutions are fine BUT be realistic.
My husband says the problem with BUT is that most of us only hear the second half of the sentence. Usually, it’s a negative. Even if it only reflects 5 % of reality, we tend to hear, then fixate on the BUT.
Guilty as charged. I unconsciously use BUT to telegraph unmet expectations (or unrealistic wishes). It’s my code word for complaining. A way to point out that someone or something doesn’t measure up. No matter how well it started out, how hard someone tried, or the progress they’ve made.
If I am learning anything in my seventh decade, it’s that life is never perfect. I’ve written about taking pictures (read: ideal image) off the metaphorical wall. I embrace Mel Robbins’ “Let ‘em Theory” as a strategy for dealing with things I can’t control. And two things can be true at once.
I can be peaceful AND frustrated at times.
I love to gather AND I need space.
Life is full of both light AND darkness.
I’m discovering that real love is lived out in the fullness of AND.
So I’m choosing AND for my 2024 One Little Word (OLW).
When something is not what I wish, I hope to look at its multiple angles and see more than just unmet expectations. I will give myself permission to feel all the feels. I will embrace both the 5% that disappoints AND walk in the goodness that constitutes 95% of my life.
I am rolling into 2024 with an attitude of
&
Ode to AND
It’s grammatical, dramatical.
It’s also mathematical.
A diplomatic follower of
controversial commas.
It’s optimistic, synergistic.
In the end more realistic.
Characteristically it’s found
in multi-taskers.
It coordinates.
It conjugates.
It could be said it consummates
phrases matched to clauses,
interjections with soft pauses.
A uniter, not a fighter.
Softer on the ear.
Gentler than BUT.
AND —my word this coming year.
©draft, Patricia J. Franz
Patricia Franz is a kidlit writer and published poet. She believes children, dogs, and sourdough have a lot to teach us about life, joy, and wonder. She has raised two boys, four dogs, and holds a master’s degree in Theology with a focus on children’s spirituality. Patricia, her husband, her Bernese Mountain dog, Bonny, and her sourdough starter split their time between the Arizona desert and the Sierra Nevada mountains. 
A mystery in life is how humans hold seemingly opposite emotional at once.
I love the rhymes in your poem, Patricia, AND the important message it sends. Happy New Year AND may all your wishes come true.
I love the rhythm and rhyme in your poem, Patricia, AND it has a good message. Happy New Year AND may all your wishes come true in 2024.
I LOVE this, Patricia! Such a positive outlook, and the tone and bounciness of your poem match that spirit. Wonderful poem – AND wishing you a happy 2024!
I love your OlW and as I read about it, such an understated and positive one. I haven’t chosen one, BUT you’ve inspired me and now I’m thinking!
What a wise & humble & lovely post, with such a clever poem alongside, & if you have to choose an abstract, this is the mother of them all! Wonderful, Patricia. (PS If I am about to turn 60, am I entering MY 7th decade? OMG I am. I must be at least a little wiser now…)
Patricia, what a delightful poem! I remember how “yes, and” was pounded into our heads during the couple of improv classes I took. It’s amazing how often my own first instinct is to qualify every positive statement with a following “but.” I really need to break that habit! Your poem is such a fun ode to “and.” xo
Patricia, you broke away from the But word nd replaced it with AND-such a positive way of looking at both sides of the coin, especially light and darkness. Your ode is a tribute to the positive side of life. Negativity gets in my way but sometimes I get stuck there. When I almost say BUT, I shall think of my OLW, PAUSE, to change my outlook. Thanks for sharing your thoughts in a rhyming way. Great Poem!
Patricia, I just lost my comment so here it goes again. But, move out of the way because AND is here to stay! Well done, Patricia! The rhyming kept my interest and this one line made me PAUSE to reflect: “real love is lived out in the fullness of AND”! I shall linger with that thought as I go to sleep. There has been a good deal of negativity lately that AND is refreshing. Have a Happy AND reflective New Year!
What a fantastic ode! I love the idea that AND is mathematical (and so SO many other things). I have informally chosen YET as my word. Here’s to the power in small words!
What a fabulous post! I’m ready to join you with and…I see that some Maggie Smith wisdom influenced you as well. There’s that old improvisational technique of “yes, and…” I so look forward to your and in 2024. Happy New Year, Patricia!
I love, love, love the & AND word for this year. 🙂 It’s perfect!
I’m so sorry you all were sick over the holidays though.
Patricia, your poem flows so beautifully! I love that you chose “and” as you OLW. A great choice!
I love your word! And the lead up to it. I try so hard not to use ‘but’. Sorry to hear Covid hit your family.
Patricia what an excellent word with an important reminder to be ‘A uniter, not a fighter.’.
I love your choice and your poetic take on it.
Oh, Patricia, I love this word even more after reading this post, as well. It reminded me of yesterday’s sermon, where she told us about the hymn writer Phillip Brooks, who wrote “O, Little Town of Bethlehem” after visiting Bethlehem just after the Civil War. She talked about the importance of “hopes and fears” in the lyrics–it’s not “hopes and dreams.” Jesus, of all people, understood that living as a human included “hopes AND fears.”
Your poem is amazing! I so love the rhymes.
Your poem is utterly delightful AND it’s inspiring AND it makes me want to turn the BUTs of my life into ANDs. 😀
As a devotee of the Oxford comma, I especially loved this:
A diplomatic follower of
controversial commas.
I am, however, so sorry to hear that you all were hit with Covid.
Happy AND Creative AND Positive AND 95%-er New Year to you, Patricia!
Yes, Patricia (mean the emoji with my hands up) for your whole post! I love your lead up to OLW. I resonate with peaceful and frustrated, gather and I need space, both light and darkness. Oh dear, I use too many BUTS, too. I’m sorry your family all had Covid and hope you’re all feeling better. Part of our family had Covid, so we saw them at the end of their driveway. Real love is lived in the fullness of AND! And I love the whole next paragraph-look at multiple angles, permission to feel al the feels…! YES! (MY hands are up, again.) You are inspiring me; I hope you don’t mind if I take some of your words to heart. That means I’ll have to write them down so I remember them because I am now 61 years young.
WOW, on your amazing poem! Creative with all the rhyme, rhythm, and meaning of the words! Love it! Oh, what a great ending!
A uniter, not a fighter
Softer on the ear
Gentler than BUT.
I am so glad I read your post tonight even though I’m ten days late. Too much happened in those ten days. Therefore, reading your post now means more than it would have on 1/5/24 because on 1/8/24 we had to send our beloved cat, who I called Little and who followed me everywhere like a little loyal dog to kitty heaven. I’ve cried so much in the past week and here I go, again. I remember you had to send your beautiful dog to heaven, and I know you understand. I need to write about my little girl, which I have been avoiding because I guess I wasn’t ready to write. The words were swirling in my mind. Thank you, Patricia for all that you have written here. You have given me inspiration AND LIGHT. Please give your puppy, who I imagine is quite big by now a hug from me.