2011

2012: My Word of the Year

It's a bit deflating to think about a talisman word for 2012, especially after failing to live up to one of the key goals I set for myself in 2011. Nope, WITNESS isn't finished, so while I'm MUCH CLOSER to The End, I have to slide that one forward into the New Year. 

I won't use my blog to reflect on why that was; believe you me, I've already done enough introspection, all by my fretful/zen/embarrassed/triumphant/smiley-faced/teary-eyed self.

Don't get me wrong: I'm proud of all that I've accomplished. It's a substantial list, not all of them measured in word count or pages. I could recount them here, but I won't, because truly, none of that makes any difference. The past is behind us, and the future's yet to be written.

Writing my memoir? That matters to me, quite a lot. Always will, for however long it takes me. So does living a life that's full and true, and very much in the here-and-now.  In the end, these intentions are interrelated.  With that in mind, my Talisman Word for 2012 is NOW.

This moment…It's the only one we're guaranteed in this lifetime. NOW is our time. Your time. My time. I plan to make the most of it in 2012.

P.S. If you've found yourself on the same page as me, you might enjoy reading these articles: "30 Things to Stop Doing to Yourself" and "25 Things Writers Should Stop Doing." I'm going to add them as shortcut keys to my desktop.

Cleansing tides

To stand at the edge of the sea, to sense the ebb and flow of the tides, to feel the breath of a mist moving over a great salt marsh, to watch the flight of shore birds that have swept up and down the surf lines of the continents for untold thousands of years, to see the running of the old eels and the young shad to the sea, is to have knowledge of things that are as nearly eternal as any earthly life can be . ~Rachel Carlson

Image Credit: hotyoga4youny.com
HAPPY NEW YEAR!

I like that today affords me the unstructured opportunity for quiet contemplation…time in which inhale gratitude for life's blessings, and to exhale all that does not serve. It's sunny and warm on the home front, so I might take a walk on the beach. Maybe I'll take a yoga class later on. Time will tell.

I''m excited to learn what 2012 holds in store for me. For you, too! But for now, in this very moment, I want to walk along the sandy beachfront, waving goodbye to the past as the new year drifts in on the tides. Come with me, if you'd like…

P.S. If you haven't yet consulted the Magic 8-ball about your prospects for 2012, here's your chance.

2012: All Signs Point to…

It's New Year's Eve again, and you know what that means: Time to consult that orbital oracle, the Magic 8-ball!

The Magic 8-ball is one of the most powerful ways to connect with our future available to humankind. It allows us to view the world from a 360-degree perspective, to peer into our futures via the watery portal at the top. Aside from its mystical influences, it infuses our lives with vitality, invokes our intuitive abilities, and invites us to imagine the vast possibilities for creating peace on earth and perfect manuscripts, oh tidings of comfort and joy.

Okay, maybe that's a wee bit hyperbolic. How's this: Magic 8-ball = a fun party game. You set the boundaries with the questions you ask, and I promise not to cheat in relating its answers. 

The rules, they are simple:

  1. DO address the Magic 8-Ball with all due respect ("Oh Magic 8-Ball…" or something similar).
  2. DO submit Yes/No questions.
  3. DO concentrate as you click on the "post comment" button.
  4. DO ask as many questions as you'd like, but enter them as separate comments.
  5. DON'T be deterred if the Magic 8-Ball tells you to ASK AGAIN LATER. 
  6. While you're waiting for the Magic 8-Ball's 2011 predictions, take a quick glance in the rear view mirror. What did you ask the Magic 8-Ball on New Year's Eve 2010, and how accurate were its answers?
  7. DON'T take the Magic 8-Ball too seriously, but please accept my sincere wishes for the happiest New Year ever! 
What does 2012 hold in store for us? Queue up your questions for the Magic 8-ball!

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2011: The year for Witness

We will open the book. Its pages are blank.
We are going to put words on them ourselves.
The book is called Opportunity and its first chapter is New Year’s Day.
~Edith Lovejoy Pierce

 

In 2009, Grace led me up Life’s highest peaks and guided me through its narrows. Then in 2010, I chose Joy as my traveling companion. [On a related note, I changed my blog name from Front Pages to A Joyful Noise.]  And now that we’ve turned the page on yet another year, I’ve got a new one-word mantra. Behold, that word is Witness.


Witness:  perceive, watch, mark, notice, observe, testify. See also: proof, confirmation, evidence.
 
Here’s what Witness looks like, at least for me: 


  1. Approach life with a sense of wide-eyed wonderment (my natural tendency).
  2. Actively observe the world and its inhabitants (as is my  wont).
  3. Find creative ways to record my observations. (Note to self: Keep writing implements, DSLR camera, and art supplies closeby.)
  4. Look for new opportunities to be of service.
  5. Deepen my meditation practice, including the art of mindfulness & being an inner witness.
  6. Produce tangible evidence of my writerly aspirations. My publishing dreams were first realized when my essay, "Luz," got accepted for inclusion in DEAR BULLY (Harper Collins, summer/fall 2011). And over the course of this past year, I’ve approached CAN I GET A WITNESS with increasing confidence. I realize that I don’t have any control over the reception it might receive in the publishing industry, nor in the larger world beyond that. But I’ve been nudged forward by my Nancy Drew adventures, and I’ve strengthened my storytelling abilities along the way. Also: visual person that I am, I’m inspired on a daily basis by this mock book cover (thanks again, Emjae). I can’t predict what any of this might mean — beyond the personal satisfaction that comes of finding my voice, of putting my story into words– but I believe with all my might that this will be the year for WITNESS.

Congregation of canaries (photo) via Getty Images


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All Signs Point to…

It’s too soon to pop the champagne cork. And the fireworks won’t start for several hours. Still, there’s no time like the present to start ushering in the New Year, so…let’s set the stage for 2011 with an encore performance of Magic 8-Ball predictions! 

Wondering what 2011 holds in store for you? Ask the Magic 8-Ball! No need for "psychic hotlines" or mass-produced fortune cookies…when you consult the black Orb o’ Answers, you’ll receive a personalized prediction. 

The rules are simple:

  1. DO address the Magic 8-Ball with all due respect ("Oh Magic 8-Ball…" or something similar).
  2. DO submit Yes/No questions.
  3. DO concentrate as you click on the "post comment" button.
  4. DO ask as many questions as you’d like, but enter them as separate comments.
  5. DON’T be deterred if the Magic 8-Ball tells you to ASK AGAIN LATER. 
  6. DON’T take the Magic 8-Ball too seriously, but please accept my sincere wishes for the happiest New Year ever! 

While you’re waiting for the Magic 8-Ball’s 2011 predictions, take a quick glance in the rear view mirror. What did you ask the Magic 8-Ball on New Year’s Eve 2009, and how accurate were its answers?

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Cleaning up, clearing away

In these last days before the new year, I’m going to rid myself of the clutter that I accumulated in 2010.  I suspect you writer-types will know exactly what I mean: the extraneous "stuff" that litters our office space; the self-imposed limitations that hamper our creativity. 

"Advice to Writers," by Billy Collins, seems apt for the task at hand. It’s open to interpretation, of course, but I think Collins might be giving a playful nod to those of us with messy traits and/or elaborate writing rituals. Maybe he’s encouraging us to drop our mindless tasks, in favor of actual writing. (Do you read that or something different?)  Whatever its intent, this poem helped inspire me to create an "immaculate altar" of my own writing desk…"a clean surface in the middle of a clean world"…a welcoming space in which to lift my own "yellow pencil."
 

ADVICE TO WRITERS
By Billy Collins

Even if it keeps you up all night,
wash down the walls and scrub the floor
of your study before composing a syllable.

Clean the place as if the Pope were on his way.
Spotlessness is the niece of inspiration.

The more you clean, the more brilliant
your writing will be, so do not hesitate to take
to the open fields to scour the undersides
of rocks or swab in the dark forest
upper branches, nests full of eggs.

When you find your way back home
and stow the sponges and brushes under the sink,
you will behold in the light of dawn
the immaculate altar of your desk,
a clean surface in the middle of a clean world.

From a small vase, sparkling blue, lift
a yellow pencil, the sharpest of the bouquet,
and cover pages with tiny sentences
like long rows of devoted ants that followed you in from the woods.

~From The Apple That Astonished Paris, by Billy Collins. Image credit: StewartInteriors.

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