New year. New resolve. New me.
Don’t get me wrong. This is not a post about new year’s resolutions. Not really anyway. I am not sure if I have ever really made a true resolution. They just kind of seem like pipe dreams. They are often super-specific, or über-vague, leaving lots of room to claim success or failure, depending upon your penchant. No, resolutions are not my bag of tricks.
But at the turn of the year, I have set my thoughts to the year to come and put an intention out to the ethers. In years past, I have dwelt on loose goals to work on for the year. Two years ago that goal was to dedicate myself to writing – to finally taking the plunge and declaring the written word as a career path for myself. I even took steps to make that tentative goal a reality. I created an office space, carved out of my living room. I took several writing courses through a local continuing education school. In short, I allowed my soul to soar and accepted this apparent path that was waiting to start, to become my reality.
And you know what? Within three months, a client appeared, followed by several others that year. I am not a wildly successful writer raking in mittfuls of cash, but I do have four clients that I have been writing for on a regular basis since that year. Via their blogs, I write about baby paraphernalia, trees, real estate, local activities, the arts and sometimes even get the chance to write a true freelance article or two on occasion. I am thrilled by the fact that not only do people like my writing, but they put their faith in me being able to consistently put forth quality articles that they are willing to put their own names on. I was even bold enough this past year to decide that I was worth a raise! Imagine that!
So now a new year has begun again. 2013 is in its early days and again I think forward to what I might want this brand new year to hold; what loose goals I might want to make as a focus for me. After tackling the business world, I opened the door to personal happiness last year and made some pretty significant advances there. So again, what about this year? I am still pondering, but suspect that I need a little more work at finding a happy medium between those two camps. With business as a focus, I was single-minded and dedicated. That didn’t leave an awful lot of room for personal happiness and love though. While pursuing love, I loosened the reigns on single-minded writing, but subsequently struggled to keep it all balanced.
This week, I have had more time to myself and have reflected. I appreciate that writing brings a huge measure of self-worth, but accept that it can also be a lonely road to walk upon. Giving myself over to passion is fantastic, but does not necessarily pay the bills or keep me as well-rounded as I could be. I suspect there is a line somewhere where I can take more time for me, my writing and my future goals, while also making room for love, companionship and the quiet moments together that ensure I wake up excited to face a new day. I need to step forward with confidence to face this new year and an ever-changing me.
How does that sound? Easier said than done? How do you make yourself a priority, while working with the important people in your life? I am not sure I have really figured that out yet, but I suspect 2013 will be an interesting year. And you?
Happy New Year!
A Writer's Take 