“And suddenly you know: It’s time to start something new and trust the magic of beginnings.” – Meister Eckhart
There is something about a new year that makes you want to clear out the junk, do a really good spring clean and start again. The new year holds a promise for something better than the one that has gone before…there is something magic about it.
I love beginnings. There is nothing better than cracking the spine on a brand new book (figuratively if you read digital books and literally if you read analogue books) and reading those first few lines of prose. Most authors labour over those first few sentences, determined to get them right. So much depends on them, they have to set the tone for the book, they need to hook the reader, they need to introduce a whole new world and most importantly, they are sometimes the first words someone will ever read of your work and it will be the very first impression they have of you. You don’t get to make a second first impression, so you want it to count.
It is the same for a new year. Those first few days (when the holidays are over and we all go back to normal) have a way of setting the tone for the year. We all have good intentions to start the year right, we are full of plans and goals and enthusiasm. It’s magic.
The new year also has the added affect of making us want to look back. We want to judge how far we’ve come, we want to gauge our success or failure by those plans we made at the start of the year. This is sometimes a good thing, but sometimes, not so good.
As I look back over the year that was, it is with mixed feelings. My family started the year dealing with a loss and it took a while for us to find out feet. We floundered, the ground shifting under us as we tried to find purchase on the new and foreign soil of doing life without a close family member. The magic of the new year seemed lost and the days ahead looked bleak.
But…
We did manage to find a safe place to stand and, although it was different and we were unsure, we managed to see a light in the darkness. Our lives were forever changed, and we wouldn’t have it any other way, but we learned to navigate in this new and strange world.
For me, personally, I had some dark days, but I also had some amazing experiences. I managed to write and publish eight books this year – over 650,000 words. That is incredible. When I look back at what I have achieved in my first year as an author, I am amazed. And incredibly humbled. I could never have done it without the support of my wonderful husband and a wonderful friend. Both have encouraged me unerringly even when I have doubted myself.
So this year, I want to do better. I want to be a better author, I want to write more, blog more. I want to be a better wife and mother, a better friend. 2015 felt like a year of sadness and, with the magic of the beginning, I want 2016 to be a year of joy.
“Begin as you mean to go on, and go on as you began…” – Charles Spurgeon
I love this quote! It is probably my quote for this year. I have already started my year the way I want to finish it – with hope, love and joy…oh, and writing!
But…
The beauty of new beginnings is that they can happen any time – not just with the new year. Every morning is a new beginning. Every time the hour hand moves, it’s a new beginning. Every breath is a chance to begin again.
Last year, my year didn’t really seem to begin until about May, but that’s okay because it did eventually begin. The true wonder of beginnings is that they are infinite…you can begin again whenever you like and there is no end to how many beginnings you can have.
That is the magic of beginning.