I gave up on New Year's resolutions years ago. Good Heavens, I can disappoint myself any old time, why set myself up for more pain and humiliation by failing to live up to those nice, shining New Year's vows? Mind you, I am attracted (like the moth to the candle flame) to all the hoopla that goes with the idea of a nice, shiny clean slate to start the year. Like the moth and the flame, the attraction has frequently ended badly.
Like the 25 extra pounds that still sit in all the wrong places, despite many diet resolutions. Like the exercise plans that have fallen by the wayside, nudged out of mind by pressing deadlines. The always tidy home? Regular notes to distant friends and family? The solid two hours a day of uninterrupted writing? Ha! All sunk without trace.
Being a bit of a contrarian, though, I've tended to celebrate two New Beginnings each year. Yes, you heard right - TWO New Beginnings a year. In September. And March.
September was when our four kids returned to school, leaving behind a summer's worth of chaos. The farm harvest was pretty well in, the garden produce jammed, jellied, frozen and canned, everything winding down to winter. Time to clean house, return to my job (journalism and freelance writing), catch up with friends, complete the house renovation projects, plan, dream....Then March - Spring about to burst on us, pregnant with potential. Summer clothes out of storage, a cornucopia of new fabrics for little girls' summer dresses and fabric art. The camera primed and ready to catch the images that warm us in the winter months. And the seed catalogues - the excitement and anticipation of the new arrivals in the mail! Oh, my - the possibilities of summer!
Somehow, the conventional New Year's always seemed to pale by comparision to the fresh starts offered by September and March.
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I have to confess, though, that this New Year's has been a little different. My very first Indie fiction
publishing venture, The No Sex Clause, a romantic comedy, was released just before Christmas - and what a wild ride that's been! And on New Year's Eve itself, Crimson Romance published my Canadian set romantic suspense, Saving Maggie. After what seemed a long drought in fiction work, I was back in the game and loving it!So what's up for the coming year? Two new romance books and a couple of non-fictions. Also, the Indie re-release of three books that are now out of contract with a publisher.
And I'm planning to return to practice as a counsellor and life coach.
Redecorate my home. Do some travelling. Dust off the sewing machine and quilting frame.
And oh, my - that pile of seed catalogues on my desk is positively glowing with happy thoughts....
So, there's my confession. What about yours? Does your new year really start on January 1st, or is there another time that gets your anticpation and creative juices flowing?
Leave me a comment, and I'll gift your choice of an ebook copy of Saving Maggie or The No Sex Clause to the one I like best!
Glenys O'Connell is currently frozen in place by record breaking low temperatures and snow. She'll emerge briefly in February, like the groundhog, to test whether Spring is imminent or not. You can learn more about her and her work on www.glenysoconnell.com or Amazon page
