fordfocus

No, this is not my new car. But Focus is a well-known member of the Ford Motor brand.

Drivers know that if they point their steering wheel in the right direction, four wheels will turn and the car will head toward a specific destination.

 

Announcing My Word for 2017: Focus

Focus is a Latinate word, which I don’t much like the sound of. It doesn’t have a pretty sound, like say, filigree or dulcé. But it does the job of describing my intention to complete my memoir writing this year.

Dictionary.com defines Focus – a central point, as of attraction, attention or activity; a target or point of convergence

In a way, “focus” complements last year’s choice, Wholehearted, a word which suggests passion and energy, all of which help fuel focus and concentration.

joyousnewyear

 

I am no longer young, but this lovely little girl is, pictured in one of Grandma Longenecker’s antique postcards (1912). Her body pulses with life and energy, just like this new year, my tabula rasa – a blank slate on which to write a fresh new story.

Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health even as thy soul prospereth.   III John: 2

 

Authorized by Act of Congress of May 19, 1898

The Postcard: Authorized by an Act of Congress of May 19, 1898

 

 

My Word Gift to YOU

Entelechy

I discovered this word on Rebecca White Body’s fine blog last year. Here’s what she says:

I recently learned the word “entelechy” from reading The Dance of the Dissident Daughter by Sue Monk Kidd. As I understand it, it’s the force that drives things to become what they were meant to be, the spirit that makes the acorn into the oak–or, more relevantly to my case, a tiny handful of seeds into a welter of burdock.

May you be all you can be in the new year, my friend!


You are the beating heart <3 of this blog, responding as you do by reading and commenting here. For this I am deeply grateful – thank you!