Happy 2014 everyone! I am supposed to be packing up Christmas decorations, but since everyone else in my house is either napping or watching college football, I decided to tackle my weekly musing instead.
There’s something very cathartic about New Year’s Day cleaning. It’s as though the last of the flotsam and jetsam from the year previous is packed away with the ornaments and Santa statues. For years, our family has had a tradition of writing our New Year’s resolutions on a piece of paper and packing them away with our family creche. It’s always interesting to see how well we did come the following Christmas. I’m happy to report that this year, I didn’t do too badly. My biggest resolution was to focus on being more present in the moment, and I actually had days when I was able to do so. Tattoo did the best – he resolved to get into the ROTC program (which he did!) and to raise his GPA to a 3.0 (which he surpassed). Mr. Wallace, did pretty well too – with the exception of vowing to get his boat in the water. Sadly for him, it’s going to be one more year before this major project is complete. (He’s rebuilding a Seafarer 31 for those who are sailing buffs. The interior is just about finished.)
All in all, 2013 was a pretty good year. I got to travel to Atlanta and finally meet my editor, the awesome Flo Nicoll. Plus I got to see my friend, 
Cathryn Parry, win the Bookseller’s Best award and celebrate Susan Meier’s RITA nomination – not to mention see my book cover on an elevator! I survived my first public reading at Lady Jane’s Salon in New York City. Sure, there were some down moments – we lost a very good friend this summer, and some people close to me suffered some medical crises that I wish they didn’t need to go through- but as we sit on the cusp of a new year, I’m feeling very grateful for the good fortune life gave me the past twelve months. Career wise, it was a terrific year. That’s in large part because of all the wonderful people who bought and read my books. I hope each and every person in my life knows just how much I value and appreciate their presence. Friend, family, reader or acquaintance…. you mean the world to me.
Now it’s time to think about this year’s New Year’s resolutions. I’ve been thinking about them for a while now. My biggest, as you all know,is to reshape my life as I approach fifty. That is going to be a work in progress. I’ve also resolved to start thinking more like a small business. It dawned on me last night that this resolution isn’t something I can do by myself. It’s going to involve retraining Mr. Wallace as well. Then again, so will reshaping my life. The changes are going to hold only if he and I work together as a team. Fortunately, I think he’s up to the challenge as much as I am.
There are, of course, some smaller resolutions as well – such as reading more, walking more, eating more fruits and vegetables. I won’t bore you with those because frankly, we all have those resolutions.
One last resolution I will share, however, is to have more experiences. If I’m lucky, I’m have about thirty years left on this planet. I want to be able to fill those thirty years with new discoveries, be it visiting new places, trying new foods or hobbies or simply learning new information and skills. In a way, this goes back to my overall arcing plan to reshape my life. I don’t want to waste the time I have left in this world mourning what has past. I want to grow and live as much as possible.
Well, the Christmas decorations are calling. I better get back to packing them up so that tomorrow I get back to writing Larissa’s story. She’s on vacation in Mexico, meaning I get to play Spanish love songs and pretend I’m at the Mayan Riviera. In the meantime, while I pack away Santa Claus and Baby Jesus, I’d like to wish you all a very Happy New Year. May 2014 be everything we want it to be.
Till Next Week!
Barb