I would apologize for not posting all the end-of-year ideas that have been swimming around in my brain for the last month, but honestly, I'm not sorry because I was enjoying a glorious vacation from all things "plugged" (with the exception of TV... hello, HBO was replaying season three of True Blood).
A relatively recent New Year's tradition for me is to come up with one little word that becomes a focus of sorts for the year. In 2009, it was relax, a word I'm still trying to incorporate into my daily life two years later. Fortunately, whether of my own accord or by mere circumstance, my word for 2010 was a bit easier for me: try. I didn't try everything I had hoped to, nor did I succeed in everything I tried, but the following highlights made for what I consider to be a rewarding word. In the past year, I've tried:
- my hand at Etsying (hey, if "googling" is now a word, "etsying" can be, too). I've only had 20 sales, but it's enough that I now have a fun little way to support my crafting habit.
- freelance writing, which I really love doing.
- becoming a paid published author, and I succeeded (yay!). This is by far my proudest accomplishment of 2010.
- devoting time to being crafty (in a good way) just for me. The result is finally having completed pages in our family scrapbooks.
- adding to my WIP. My manuscript is 17,779 words longer than it was this time last year, but I expected to have the novel's first draft completed by now.
It's this unrealized vision that ultimately led me to my one little word for 2011:
REALIZE
1.
to grasp or understand clearly.
2.
to make real; give reality to (a hope, fear, plan, etc.).
My friend Cheri described herself a few weeks ago as "Queen of Unfinished Projects." Over the last few years, this has become me as well. There's a lot of thinking about doing, but not enough actual doing. As I said in a Facebook status earlier last month, "Good intentions, bad follow-through. Story of my life." I think some of the problem is that I have too many good intentions, which leads me to the first part of my word: I need to realize what my priorities are, as well as what's getting in the way of them, and focus on those. Unfortunately, that is going to mean saying "no" to some - or a lot - of people and opportunities, but I'd rather dedicate myself to a few things and see them through than make a whole bunch of commitments I ultimately can't fulfill.
The second part of my word is probably obvious: I want to realize my goal of getting this novel written (and, much to my dismay, it's apparently not going to write itself). This time next year, I will have a draft that is ready for pre-readers to critique. Does someone have a brown paper bag I can hyperventilate into, please? I'm tired of thinking about it. I'm tried of talking about it (though that probably won't stop me from continuing to do so). It's time to DO IT.
Here's to 2011 and realizing all it has to offer!
3 comments:
Happy New Year Cheryl! Congrats on the Etsy sales and nice to know I'm 10% of your business - makes me feel kinda special ;-). Love your word for 2011 and wish you all the best in realizing your dreams come true!
first i do not blame you-true blood is simply irresistible and now that we have net flix and i'm awake while dh is sleeping-i'm starting at season 1!
i love that your 2011 word is realize. that's a big one gf and i think you will realize that you will be able to get er done :)
love ya!
ps-i want to read that novel so get kickin-i will have a brown paper bag readily available for those overwhelming moments or you can just call me-did i mention that TB4 starts in 6 short months? can a month actually be short? lol, ok i'm done :)
xo
Sounds to me like you've already realized a lot. I hope the rest of 2011 continues the trend!
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