Beginnings

I love beginnings. I love the start of a new month, a new day, a new year. I love goals. I love to try new things. I love to change things up.

I have some personal goals for the new year. Some involve health. Some involve simplifying, organizing, dejunking…that kind of thing. Others involve time and prioritizing. Prioritizing? It has a magical sound to it. Very business-like and powerful, but…

Prioritizing has always been a struggle for me. I love to do too many things. I want to do everything. As a young mother, I thought that prioritizing was a way to do more. If I just prioritized,I thought, I could fit everything in. It never worked, and I never knew why. That was a little insane.

Writing is a high priority for me. I have some specific writing goals for the new year, such as finding a home for three picture book manuscripts, and forging ahead on my first chapter book.

Our critique group is doing a remodel, too. Lately, we drifted into a comfortable stupor, where we did lots of visiting, but not much critiquing. We weren’t making much progress and thankfully we decided to do something about it. More structure was needed, and a few ground rules.

Change is good. I’m glad that we care enough about each other to hang in there, and I’m glad that we care enough about our writing to try new things. It’s just coincidence that we are making a new start at the start of a new year, but then again…

I love beginnings.

Linda Garner