Happy New Year, one and all!
This was the first year that I spent New Year's Eve not at church, not at a youth group gathering, but actually in Times Square in NYC! Let me be the first to tell you, that was a hot mess.
In case you ever plan on seeing the ball drop in the home of Broadway, I offer a few suggestions. First. if you actually want to see the ball, plan on being there for literally the entire day. A cop that we asked told us that people had been gathering since 6 a.m. on December 31st to get into Times Square. As the blocks fill up, they barricade off more and more blocks. Once you're in, you're in. You leave, you don't get back in.
My friends and I, anticipating this, made sandwiches and snacks and brought water in two separate backpacks for the six of us. The snag? Owing to all of the backpack bombings at public events, neither backpacks nor strollers were allowed inside of the barricades. Which left us with a dilemma. What were we going to do?
Per the officer's suggestion, we decided to find an avenue where we could at least see the fireworks and confetti that would be released at midnight. Luckily it was in the 30s outside, rather than the much colder temperatures that NYC can offer. So here we are, bundled up like eskimos with hats, scarves, and gloves, ready to face the New Year with good friends and an optimistic look towards the future.
Until most of the group decided to go to a party and view the fireworks from across the water, inside, instead of in the cold NYC streets.
But you know what? As my best friend said, it was an experience. I can say that I was in New York City to welcome in the New Year.
Now to get back to real life and teaching.
I'm not going to lie; even though we only had about a week and a half off of work, I enjoyed every minute of it. Not to say that I wouldn't enjoy more of it, but hey, take what you can get.
The grind of preparing students for state testing is about to begin. Not looking forward to that at all. In addition, you almost have to reprogram the kids to remind them about how to behave in your classroom; you'd be amazed at how quickly they forget.
But anyway.
I decided not to do resolutions this year. Every time that I set a "resolution" it never lasts. I think it's something to do with it seeming such a high standard and putting so much pressure on myself to accomplish it that I get tired of it. Quickly. Instead, I've decided to set myself a few personal goals for the year.
It's been years since I've completely finished a novel; 2009, to be exact (the year that I started college - that explains a lot!) I'm long overdue. But what with the classes and homework and theatre and singing and then teaching, time and focus was not something that I had in abundance. But now that the only thing that I'm doing is teaching, I can practice time management to allow myself time to be creative.
To that point, I've decided a few things.
First, I'm going to finish a novel this year. I need to get my mojo back, and the only way to do that is to get writing. I also plan to complete several short stories and get them published; that's a good way to let people see my writing and what I'm capable of. To that end, I'm making myself write a little every day. Even if it is just a sentence, or going back and editing earlier stuff in that story, I'm gonna do it. I don't yet have the luxury of writing being my full time job where I can start writing whenever and for however long that I want; that's the goal. I'm about to start my stretches. If you want something, you have to chase it. That's what I'm going to do.
Thankfully, I have a cheerleader who always has words of encouragement and support for my writing. My BFFFEE (Best Friend Forever and Ever) is constantly asking me about my writing and how things are going. She's not going to let me rest, and that's exactly what I need.
Time to chase my dream. What dream are you chasing?
“The only thing worse than starting something and failing … is not starting something.” – Seth Godin
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