Trying to look back on an entire year is an odd sensation. In some ways, it feels like 2015 just got started, and in others, it seems it has gone on forever.
In the beginning of the year, I had just graduated college. I was decompressing by catching up on pleasure reading. I started using Twitter more, connected with some authors, and kept getting more and more drawn to books and their associated community.
While this was going on, I was in a constant limbo about whether or not trying for a career immediately would be the best thing. “Best thing” is a relative idea. Some people might see that and say “well of course it would be,” but that wasn’t so for me. You see, I wasn’t a young, detached college graduate. I graduated with a personal life in full swing–married and a mother and all kinds of responsible (for the most part). The “best thing” is not just for me, but for my family. I’ve been fortunate enough to be home with our son for the last few years, and we believe that is the #1 important thing for our family. I’m also fortunate enough to get to continue.
This doesn’t come without pressures. When I was a student I felt like I was working towards a goal that would ultimately lead to other, longer-term goals that we have. But now that I’m not a student, and not yet pursuing a career outside of the home, I feel like that has been put on pause.
The pause has been good in some ways. It has allowed me time to realize my own personal goals and work towards those. Your reading this is part of the result of these new goals. In the last few semesters of college, I realized I really enjoyed the classes where we “workshopped” one another’s papers/projects, giving and receiving constructive criticism and becoming better writers. I decided that if possible, I would like to be able to do that for others–I’d like to be an editor. Can you imagine my disappointment in realizing that there are very few opportunities in my current geographic location?
By this time, I’d begun beta-reading for some authors and began to think of offering my services publicly. *Cue major anxiety and fear of failure.* This quote nicely captures a change that has happened in my outlook on life, and I decided to take my chances on spreading my wings. Guess what you guys? I’m still in the air.
Along these same lines I continued growing my relationships with authors online, and even got to meet a couple of my favorites, S. Usher Evans and J. Leigh Bralick. They are just as amazing as their books.
I also attended a few bookish events, hearing and meeting authors before I’d ever read their books. So far, I haven’t been disappointed.
I also became aware of the book blogging community, and began to show my love for the books I was reading in the form of reviews and recommendations. This is such an amazing community and I’m so glad that I found it.
Okay – I realize a lot of this has been about bookish things. This year it seems much of my focus has been on bookish things, so that’s pretty fitting.
Looking forward to a new year can be just as daunting as looking back. Who knows what 2016 will hold? We just have to do the best we can 🙂
As far as resolutions go, of course I have some things I want to do more of, less of, or better, but I know myself well enough to know that I’m not going to be perfect at those things all the time, so I decided that my resolution for 2016 is to be satisfied. Day by day, I can be the judge of that. It isn’t a set of tasks to complete, it’s an attitude, a reflection at the end of the day.
I look forward to this year. I look forward to meeting more of you, to reading more books, and working more diligently on my own.
I look forward to the time I will spend with my family.
I look forward.
Let’s look forward together.
Thank you for taking the time to read this. If you have your own 2015 recap or 2016 greeting, leave it below, I’d love to read it.
Books in the Garden 