New Year or a New Moment: Move Your Story Forward

I keep thinking about all the posts on Facebook and other social media sites about ending this year and starting fresh with a new one. Many say they are ready for it to end because it was a terrible year generally noting the changes in our political climate. I think it is sad that we use the outside world and the rantings of a crazy person as our barometer of a good or bad year.

It may be helpful to think more about your personal year, the things that you had control over. Maybe you spent too much time caught up in the craziness and not enough on making the world a better place by you actions. Maybe you did wonderful acts of kindness and did make the world a better place for you and a few other people. Maybe you learned so much and are taking that forward into this new year.

I wonder why we feel that an arbitrary day (January 1) is the one to mark new beginnings? We have new beginnings every minute and opportunity at any moment to change direction and do things differently. We can begin the creation of new habits and new action right now.

Of right now.

I attended a Society of Children's Book Writer's and Illustrators (SCBWI) Conference in September in Wisconsin. I heard authors, illustrators, agents and editors speak and I took loads of notes. I made new friends and learned so much. I didn't wait for today, January 1 to begin to implement what I learned.

One of the pieces of advice that was given by several speakers was to always ask if what you have written is moving your story forward. That phrase, "Does it move your story forward?" has been haunting me a lot lately. Not just as I am writing or editing a story, but because I am working on moving my personal story forward.

For me 2017 was not a bad year. I learned so much, I have moved my story forward and am very excited to continue doing so in 2018. Not just today, but every day of the year. Each action we take is is a step in a direction. Little changes. Wonderful small changes add up to big new stories.

We never really get a fresh clean start. We will always have our past. The question is, how do we take that past and use it to move our stories forward?

Do we create drama for the sake of drama, or do we create peace for the sake of peace? What do we want out of this life? What will it take to get us there? What little actions create a scene that leads to turning to a new page? Life is a choose your own adventure, what direction do you want to take? When will you take charge of the adventure?

I am taking steps forward now, and


now



and Now!