This Christmas season has had me more out of sorts than normal.
One thing that hasn’t changed is our family tradition of having a themed Christmas tree each year. We’ve been doing our own thing for more than 26 years now. This year, perhaps the grouchy has shown through in what our tree theme turned out to be.
The tree is clearly grouchy too…
Merry Christmas! May all your celebrations be warm and bright… now scram!
This year I am very thankful that some of my creativity and drive to write seems to be returning. It’s been something of a rough year, but things are looking up. I hope your holiday season brings all sorts of positive things your way.
I also hope your family traditions – like being the one to get the rings off the end of the canned cranberry sauce – make you smile.
Happy Thanksgiving everyone.
It’s been a long, weird year. While I don’t think vilifying a year will change how things unfold in the coming months, I do understand it.
Take some time, celebrate if it’s your holiday, relax if it’s not. We’re still here and there are lots of wonderful / amazing things coming our way ~ we just have to get there.
Merry Christmas to all.
Yes, It’s later than everyone else but I am finally acknowledging the new year. The end of 2018 was a busy time for me. It was a time for the holidays and family but also when I started to come back from a massive slump. 2018 was a miserable year for me creatively. I read next to nothing, I wrote next to nothing and I did a handful of art pieces that I don’t like much. Terrible. There were a lot of things to be thankful for over the year, but it was still a tough year. It’s easy to put a marker at the change of a calendar year and claim “new” but I had already started all that back before Christmas – now I just need to keep it rolling.
For anyone keeping track I haven’t changed my personal view on resolutions. Many years ago I made a New Year’s resolution to NEVER make a New Year’s resolution again. Guess what? Nailed it again. Still going strong on that one. IF you want or need change in your life, the calendar is convenient, but not required. Make the change to grow or get better when you make that choice. You can do it!
I’m going to apply some of that same enthusiasm to my own work. I’m still struggling along, but I’ll get there. So will you. Have a fantastic 2019 – I look forward to a lot of wonderful stuff.
It’s actually a little difficult to believe that 2018 is upon us. The past year has certainly gone faster than I would have imagined – and not nearly as cleanly. There are lots of reasons that 2017 wasn’t fantastic – but there were certainly a lot of good things for me personally and that’s the level I really have to work at here.
For anyone keeping track I haven’t changed my personal view on resolutions. Many years ago I made a New Year’s resolution to NEVER make a New Year’s resolution again. Guess what? Totally nailed it. Still going strong on that one. IF you want or need change in your life, the calendar is convenient, but not required. Make the change to grow or get better when you make that choice. You can do it!
That being said I do intend to keep forging ahead with my personal projects this year. I’ve still got about 9 things going at any one time. I’m still being a fan, an author and an artist. I game, I work at the day job and I spend time with my awesome family.
I genuinely hope that you and yours have an excellent year – positive feelings and good things should come your way!
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
So here we are in the all new year – a happy, shiny, just out of the packaging 2017.
I’m pleased to say that part of the reason my posts here have been slow during the holiday season is that I am blessed with many family and friends. Part of the reason my posts here have been slow is that I have been working on things that don’t involve me being here and posting. Professionally (day job) things are moving forward toward a goal I’ve had for many, many years. It’s going to make things here slow. I’ve started moving toward finishing a lot of things that I’ve started. This should make for a very interesting year to come.
Yes it’s a convenient way to mark the time. Calendars are good like that. What it is not, is a time when I “make a resolution”. I’ve posted about this in the past. It hasn’t changed. If you want to be consistent, then what it takes is an ability to keep showing up. I have found that is one of the things I’m actually really good at. I can certainly keep showing up.
I look forward to seeing all the big things the coming year has to offer. Keep showing up. I want to hear what’s going on with you as well!
Consistency matters – and not just when you’re cooking. It’s actually something I tend to be good at. I am consistent. I suspect that will make some folks think this “new” New Year’s post is somehow cheating, but it’s not. It’s consistent. That’s the sort of thing that make a resolution something more, makes it a real change. Another year down, another year sticking to a resolution I made many years ago…
I’ve talked about this before, but I think it bears repeating.
Back when I could go to the gym (yes, I could *go* now, but with my back, why?) I heard something that has stuck with me ever since. It was funny, but only because there was such truth buried in there. As I was walking to a machine that had just opened up in the middle of the crowd one of the other regulars (a much older gentleman) said, ” I just wish all these damn resolutionists would give up and go home already. I’m trying to finish my set.”
It’s true. This time of year brings out all the annual promises to self and others that have diminishing returns as the days go by. It’s a crazy small percentage of resolutions that actually cause a shift or permanent change.
I made a resolution many years ago and I’ve stuck with it ever since. I resolved never to make another new year’s resolution. Guess what? I haven’t. Total success.
There are a lot of people out there that scoff when I say that. They think I’m being flippant or mocking others “that really want to try”. I don’t want to try… I want to succeed. Do, or do not – there is no try. Yes, I am totally a child of media and will quote Yoda when it’s convenient. That is where the truth of the matter is for me. If you’re really interested in making a change, does it have to coincide with the new year? Changing something just for the sake of a date on a calendar isn’t going to work. A real, honest with yourself change will happen when you’re ready to make that happen. Once you reach that point, the change will stick.
So that was my resolution story – how are yours going?