Where Has the Year Gone?

Hey everyone! Can you believe it’s already December 1st? The weather is getting colder (depending on where you are), Christmas and other Holiday decorations are starting to go up, and the year is coming to a close. Honestly, I feel like it should still be summer, but I’ve also never liked the cold.

It kinda sucks how time goes by so quickly. There’s only a month left in the year and depending on who you are, there’s still so much you want to get done before the new year. How many to-dos have you crossed off your list? I certainly have a bunch. Well, instead of focusing on what little time you have to finish things, I have a question for you:

How was your year?

I think we can all agree that 2021 was much better than 2020 and that in itself is a cause for celebration. What about beyond that? Did some big, life changing event happen for you this year? Did you get engaged? Have a baby? Get a new job? Retire? Buy a new car or move to your own place? If not, then you must have been enjoying the little things. Or maybe you were just working on your New Year’s resolution?

So how many of you winced when I brought up the resolutions?

That’s a long time ago, wasn’t it? Way back in January many of us set resolutions that we would get done this 2021. If you’ve completed yours, yay! Good for you! If not, well, join the club. My new year’s resolution was to write every day, a page, a paragraph, a sentence, something. Plus, I wanted to finish the new first draft of my sequel. Sad to say, neither of those things happened, but I’m not upset. If you write everyday, you risk burning yourself out and no writer wants that. And as far as my sequel, I’m making some changes to my first novel, so I shouldn’t be working on the sequel again until those changes are complete. I don’t know what your new year resolution was, but I do hope you’re not beating yourself over it. Sometimes plans don’t work out for a reason, but if that resolution is something you want, then continue to strive for it. I’ve already determined my 2022 resolution and surprise, surprise, it has to do with writing.

But enough about next year. I dare you to reflect on this past year. What’s one good thing that happened you each month of this year (excluding December, of course, since it just started)? I dare you to write it down and give yourself a visual list of a happy year. If nothing big happened in a month then write something small. Something that made you smile like you got a new video game to play or craft to make, or you tried a new recipe that turned out delicious. Maybe you visited someone or had lunch with an old friend? Whatever it was, write it down. Maybe next year you could make that list better?

Now, I get that memory may not be on your side when trying to think of what happened in January. I make it easy for myself and I keep a journal of my day to day activities, but fuzzy memory doesn’t mean you can’t participate. I’ve included my list below. Maybe it’ll give you ideas for yours?

Nikki’s Happy Side of 2021

• January: started building my Twitter author platform
• February: I got a shiny Mewtwo in Pokemon Go and painted sunrises
• March: I was featured on someone else’s blog
• April: started a new draft of my sci-fi novel
• May: I somehow ended up on my cousin’s party bus, but it was a lot of fun.
• June: Family Lake Week and interview with Julie Lessman
• July: My birthday month
• August: Bought a brand new car!
• September: Renaissance Festival!
• October: Ren Fest again, and Halloween!
• November: North Carolina Writing Workshop gave me new ideas to improve my novel!
• December: CHRISTMAS