Happy New Year

 

Wishing you all a very healthy, happy, prosperous and far less stressful 2021 than we've witnessed in 2020. As this new year dawns, I will be praying for peace, strength and well-being for all of you, in both your personal and writing lives. May this be a year of great productivity, great passion and newfound motivation and perseverance. 

Cheers to all!

Happy Holidays

Wishing you and yours a very Merry Christmas and blessed holiday season filled with much happiness, health and well-being. God Bless and be well!

Calm in the Chaos

 

I received this book today as a Christmas gift (thank you, Robin!). I haven't started reading it yet but cannot wait to do so. The title alone draws me as does the cover picture. But more than anything, the line, "Finding Calm in a Chaotic World," really hits home. How exactly is one supposed to do so these days?

There is much about our current world which is chaotic and scary. One could debate and discuss a great deal of it from many angles, but that is not my intention in this post. I am merely looking at it from a writer's perspective.

Is your brain as chaotic and addled as mine these days? Trying to put the finishing touches on the holiday plans (such as they are this year), taking care of kids or a spouse, managing life on the work and/or home fronts? I don't know about you, but my writing often gets pushed to the back burner this time of year which typically frustrates the heck out of me. I've been trying to finish up edits on a manuscript I want to submit by the end of December but seem to be shuffling the words and papers more than accomplishing final edits. I've been meaning to post on this blog far more often than the sporadic posts of the past though have not been very successful at that either. I try to keep up with the newsletters and webinar replays that arrive in my inbox though still have a few yet to go.

What I can say I have been far better at in this last month or two (or have tried to be anyway) is spending more time reading (which does help with creativity greatly not to mention comfort) and, most importantly, being more present in the time spent with my kids which does this mama's heart good! 

So when I read the cover of this book today, for the first time in a long time, I felt a peace and calm in my writing (or lack thereof) knowing I will hit the road running once again once the holidays are over and the kids have gone back to school/life. In the meantime, I'm going to enjoy and appreciate this time for tomorrow is never promised. A very difficult lesson many have learned this year more than any other. And that, my friends, helps me find calm in my chaotic world.

What helps you find calmness and serenity in your lives, whether it be writing or personal? I would love to hear what works for you.