I love January.
I know a lot of people hate it, with the constant ice, intermittent snow, and the cold, dark nights.
But not me, I love it. For me January is and always will be a sign of things to come, the month when the world tries its best to wake from the dreary sleep of winter, shedding the old slumber and doing it’s best to wake to sunshine and daffodils.
It brings hope – how often do we hear that old saying ‘new year new start’? It signals the start of a new year where we can all aspire to our dreams once more and not let the mundane stop us from doing so. And it brings satisfaction, with Christmas over and life settling back down, comfort food in the form of warming soups and stews, and the occasional hot pud, and that feeling of warm coziness when the world outside is freezing.
It’s also been a highly productive month – you may remember on an earlier blog I mentioned wishing to get my novel finished by Christmas – that unfortunately wasn’t achieved with one thing and another, however I am now nearing the end! Only around another 10k words to go and it shall be printed and placed in the dark drawer for several weeks before editing will commence! I am very proud of the way the story has progressed, in love with my characters and already know who out of this novel will be in the second novel!
It’s an astoundingly wonderful feeling to be so close to completion, I can only begin to imagine how good it will feel to be edited and sent to agents, and eventually I hope accepted for publication – a hard slog but sooooo worth it.
It’s exciting stuff reaching finish lines, kind of an out with old in with the new feeling.
It’s also been a good ‘connecting’ month – I’m speaking with people I haven’t spoken with properly for years, I’m exploring my current friendships and enjoying a rehash of closeness with the ones I love – sometimes it’s hard finding the time to see everyone you want to see, and do everything you want to do, and to remain positive about the future and what’s coming. But it’s these times when you need to take a step back and evaluate where you are going, who you are travelling with, and more importantly making sure you are travelling with the people you want to be travelling with.
And it’s an important month for seeing the magic (yes again I mention the magic!) – just look around. The snow lining the edges of tree branches, the sparkle of ice on your car on a morning, the freshness in the air at this time of year. Look at the other things you can’t normally see – place your foot into fresh snow and listen to the satisfying crunch, then step off and look down. Your footwear impression remains, every minute unique detail of something that is all you! Nobody else in the world will have the same impression as you do – we all wear our shoes differently, walk differently. Yes that’s also the crime scene examiner in me – but its remarkable none the less!
As I find myself coming to the end of January, I also discover just how thankful I can be for the simple things, how grateful for the things that arrive just when they are meant to. With working so much overtime it’s been hard connecting with my husband as we have been like ships passing in the night – but the last few weeks there hasn’t been any overtime available, and I was worried about the lack of money this would bring, but then amazingly a windfall in the post off the tax man. This took the worry away, and some annual leave meant a new level of closeness, less like ships passing and more like ships docking together. Sometimes it’s worth less worry about the things we don’t have, and just accepting that the Universe, in all it’s glory, will see us right if we just choose to believe it will do so.
Finally I’d like to wish a very happy new year to all my new followers and readers, as well as those who have been with me since day one. 2013 will be fabulous for all of you. Last month I hit more readers than ever before which is fabulous! You’re all amazing – thank you!