New Year’s Eve brings us the end of a year and New Year’s Day brings us the beginning of a new year. Kind of like the song, “Closing Time” by Matchbox 20 (which I heard around 5:30 this morning, driving back from the airport): “every new beginning/ Comes from some other beginning’s end.“
I wonder if they used that line as a writing prompt…when I googled for it, instead of the song’s name, a quotation site says that it’s attributed to Seneca, a Roman philosopher from 1 AD.
In any case, each New Year gives us an opportunity to close the pages of last year’s book and open a new book with blank pages. Before I close 2007’s book, I want to flip through it though…I haven’t really looked back at the year yet.
Last year, I was a Girl Scout Leader and secretary of my daughter’s school’s Association of Parents and Teachers (APT). Overall, I found both experiences horizon broadening. I have not ventured into either realm again this school year. Maybe next year I will. I miss the sense of purpose that both gave me.
Last year, we went on a 2 week trip from FL to MD to OH to MI to KY to FL again. It was a road trip and we all had a good time. I’m not really eager to go on such a long road trip again any time soon though. As far as I know, we don’t have any plans for such a trip this coming summer. Note to self and spouse: we probably shouldn’t make any big purchases just before our next vacation! Certainly, the minivan made the trip far more comfortable than it would have been otherwise, but, well….
Last year, we had three weeks upon our return from our road trip to pack our house and find a new one in our new city. We did this successfully, with only minimal cleaning to be done after moving weekend. Next move, we hope to have more people to help us with all stages of the move. Doing so much of it by ourselves and then doing the actual move with just my parents to help us was exhausting. I’m very happy in our new home, in our new city, though. I guess I’ve learned that I prefer a place with wider horizons than the little town gave us. At the same time, though, I settled in to the small town a little bit easier and made friends faster there. Go figure.
Last year I set a goal: To write 50,000 words in 30 days. I accomplished this goal, despite some obstacles I hadn’t planned on. I’m very proud of this accomplishment. I also set a goal to write more, to give that profession a really serious effort. In some ways, I have been accomplishing that goal. In other ways, I’m still trying. After the first little while, I slacked off on trying to get articles published for pay. But at the same time, I focused in more on my fiction writing, which was a lost love of mine.
Last year, I made a real effort to work on my house, to make it feel like home, and to create a sanctuary for our family. I feel like I’ve made great progress on this. I’ve learned that a house with more room really does help when it comes to cleaning. I’ve learned that routines can really help keep it clean. I’ve learned that I’m not totally evil for insisting on my family helping keep it organized each week. I’m the stay at home mom, so most of it falls to me, but they get to help keep their own rooms clean. It works out.
I remembered, for the umpteenth year in a row, that I’d be happier getting Christmas shopping done ahead of time. I’d be more likely to get the things I want to get for people, rather than getting what I can find. I also learned that fabric remnants work GREAT for wrapping gifts! (and it’s greener than paper too!)
Later, I’ll look ahead to 2008. I hope the Old Year was relatively kind to every one. I hope it gave you chances to reflect and to grow. I hope it gave you time to be the person you are meant to be.
