Here we are again at the start of a new year. Many people view January as a month filled with darkness, the post-holiday blues, and slush. Although it can and often is all of those things, I still enjoy January. Though I am someone who likes winter. Yes there are pitfalls like driving in snow, but that’s about it for me, the rest is sheer beauty. Well, when puffy, white snow is falling and it’s not slushy mud on the ground.
There’s just something about sitting in my office in a sweater, watching the snow float to the ground. Of course that’s not what I’m doing today. No, today I’m listening to sleet pelt down on the roof above me. Oh well. Every season has its pitfalls.
Even with the slick conditions of the roads, I’m trying to keep myself in a good mood. I like to look at January as the chance for a new start. I’m not the resolutioner type. Not that there’s anything wrong with it, but over the years I’ve seen it as a promise to myself I don’t keep. What I like, are goals.
This year, my goal is to take myself back to the beginning and remember why I love the things I do. I want to reconnect with myself, my hobbies, and my work. Why did I first start to run and race? What got me hooked on writing? Where did my love of small rubber ducks begin? The answer to that last one circles back to running. Remind me to tell you the story some day.
I’m less than two weeks in and already feel freer. When we allow ourself to love something for the pure enjoyment of it, life changes. Ok, maybe it doesn’t change, but it shifts in a beautiful way. If you haven’t had the chance to experience this, I suggest you give it a try.
With this new perspective, I’m doing one last edit on my manuscript I started last year and then sending it to the query gods for whatever may happen from that point. After that, I’m moving onto something I’ve been toying with since last summer. Are ghosts, humor, and romance filled women’s fiction as marketable as straight romantic women’s fiction? No clue. But it’s what I love reading and writing and that’s what it’s all about.