A New Year

On January 1st last year, I was still toying with the idea of beginning a blog, but didn't actually begin until the middle of the month. I have changed and grown by leaps and bounds over this year, and it feels good to start off a new year with a firmer grasp on who I am and where I am going with my writing journey.

I played around with my blog design this morning, thinking that it might be a good idea to change my colour scheme for a new year. What do you think of the purple? When I was done, I instantly missed the soothing blue from 2010, but decided that it's a good thing to push me from my comfort zone and try something new. I'm looking into printing options for my blog, as I want to print it for my kids to receive when they are older, and when I have more information on prices I will share it with you. If anyone is interested in buying a book version of the blog, please let me know so I can factor that in to the number of copies I order.

On this New Year's Day, I thoroughly enjoyed sleeping in past 9 am, and soaking up the last moments of leisure before I haul the backpacks from the closet tomorrow afternoon and get back into the school and life routine for Monday. Taking this two week break and experiencing the joys of leisure for the first time in this fully abandoned way has changed me completely. It has unwound something at my core which was wound too tight, and ready to snap at any given moment.

Slowing down has made me a gentler and happier person, and that has made a difference to my husband and my kids. I can't believe I wasted so much time worrying about things that I couldn't control, and fearing that I wasn't doing enough, when all of that time I was missing the joys that were right in front of my face. Now I can see those things much clearer, and the little things really do add up to create the big ones.

A new year is like a big, shiny gift, just waiting to be opened and enjoyed. It is full of possibilities. I've never been one for resolutions, because the fear of failing at them was greater than the possible benefit of establishing them, but this year I'm ready for new things. I won't term them as "resolutions" but I know that I am different, so I will experience what comes at me in a new way, and I will be able to create positive change in my own life. I've seen firsthand the results of positive motion in life, and I want to keep moving in that direction, carving out space for myself and my dreams while prioritizing sanity and peace for my family.

Happy New Year to all of you. May it be full of wonder and beauty and love. You are the change that you want to see in the world. This is the year to make your dreams a reality. Starting small is the only way to get there. Little things add up to big ones. Forward motion is the key. If you don't know what your dream is, take time to get to know who you are and what makes you happy, as that is the key to your dreams. Then it's baby steps toward making the idea a reality. This is the year.