Even Good Things Can Happen

 Hello gentle readers,

Well, we're about two weeks into the New Year, and I thought I'd take a look at how things are going so far.

For me? Not that bad.  I have had an amazing uptick in creativity which has led to lots of personal writing, but nothing new for publication.  I did proofread a friend's first Kindle book and even though the subject matter isn't my cup of tea (historial romance veering into fantasy), I thought it was well written if short. 

I wish I could say that the larger world is having a good year, but between the fires in California, the blizzards on the East Coast and the continuing political and cultural divisions separating the country, I just don't see it.  The world continues to fragment, the old orders clinging to power even as their foundations crumble beneath them.

However, I am not going to be a doomsayer. There are good things happening in the world too. People continue to be kind and generous in the face of disaster and want.  Hamas and Israel just announced a cease fire agreement. Nine out of every ten cars sold in Norway last year were electric. A woman in China has lived to be 124 years old.

We're in a new year. 

Anything can happen.

Even good things.

Hope in the New Year

Hello, gentle readers!  The year is turning, the old year wheezing its last breath, and the new one… well, the new one is a mystery wrapped in an enigma, sprinkled with a generous helping of hope.

Now, I know what some of you are thinking.  Hope?  In *this* economy? With *this* weather?  With the state of the world generally resembling a particularly grumpy badger?  Yes, my friends, even then, hope remains.  It's a tenacious little weed, that hope, stubbornly pushing its way through the cracks in the pavement of despair.

I’ve spent years wrestling with uncertainty – the leap into the writing life, the occasional financial panic (because let's be honest, a writer's income can be... unpredictable), the whole "what if I fail?" existential dread. Yet, here I am, still typing away.  Why?  Because somewhere, deep down, beneath the anxieties and self-doubt, a stubborn flicker of hope persists.  The hope that the next story will be the one, the hope that the next year will be better, the hope that maybe, just maybe, I'll finally master the semicolon. (A man can dream, can't he?)

Hope isn't about ignoring the problems; it's about facing them with the understanding that things *can* change.  We adapt, we evolve, we learn.  We stumble, we fall, and sometimes, we get back up and try again, fuelled by that same quiet, persistent hope.  It’s the belief that even in the darkest night, the sun will eventually rise again.

So, as we stand on the precipice of a new year, let's embrace that hope.  Let's allow ourselves to dream, to plan, to envision a brighter future.  Let's acknowledge the struggles, but also celebrate the small victories, the unexpected kindnesses, the moments of joy that pepper our lives.

Because hope, my friends, is not a luxury; it's a necessity.  It's the fuel that keeps us going, even when the going gets tough.  It's the quiet whisper that reminds us that even in the midst of chaos, there's always a chance for something better.  And perhaps, just perhaps, that's enough.  

Until next time!