The Proper Stitcher’s Word of The Year

Happy New Year 2024!

It’s a new year! A fresh start, a clean slate for all of our goals and ambitions. We get a chance once a year to make peace with the past year and reflect on what went well, and what maybe didn’t go well, and leave it in the past. A new year is a new beginning, which makes it the perfect time to establish new goals to accomplish next year.

Word of The Year

In the past few years, I have made it my own personal goal to pick a certain word that will set my focus for the new year. In 2022 my word was “peace”, and in 2023 it was “courage”. When I focused on “peace”, I wanted to focus on living peacefully, ignoring all the day to day chaos that could be distracting. My year of “courage” helped me navigate through so many of the ups and downs of 2023. I launched my cross stitch designing business, we had a death in the family, and I co-hosted two retreats. This year, I have chosen the word “intentional” to be my focus, and this is not only for my business life with The Proper Stitcher (though this certainly applies) but also for my life as a mother, wife, friend, and neighbor.

Why “Intentional”?

Intentionality is something which I find can often be overlooked in this day and age. We live in a fast paced world where everything we think of or want can be at our fingertips almost instantaneously. This has resulted in a seeming lack of intentionality in many areas, and beauty can often be overlooked in exchange for what is most readily available. Whether that be our cell phones and social media, fast food, or the business of our days, it is hard to find things done with intentionality or to craft things in our own lives that are intentional. This year, I want to focus on being intentional with all that I do, say and create. I want to cultivate intentional conversations with my family and friends, be intentional through my actions, and I also want to design and stitch intentional patterns.

How “intentional” Will Impact The Proper Stitcher

So, by now I hope I have inspired you to choose your own “word of the year”. I love how a word of the year, like a new year’s resolution, helps me to stay focused on one goal throughout an entire year. However, unlike a new year’s resolution, you are able to have more grace with yourself as you gradually implement this new “word” into your lifestyle and focus.

Throughout this year, I hope to aim to be intentional with my designs, patterns, stitching, and with all of you! I am so grateful to have been given the opportunity to share my stitching journey with all of you, and hope to continue doing so for a long time to come. Let’s all try to be intentional with our lives over the next year in as many ways as possible! It could even be as simple as finishing that project that has been in your WIP (work in progress) basket for a while, waiting patiently to be completed. As I have always said, I would rather have a finished project than a perfect project, and to do this requires love for yourself and intentionality with your project, even if it is not perfect.

I wish you all a happy new year, and hope it is filled with many blessings, happy memories, and intentionality!

Happy Stitching,

Annie