Friday 8 February 2013

This is not a New Year’s Resolution...honestly, it’s not.

This was the first year in a long time that I made no New Year’s resolutions. I spent New Year’s Eve in the Lebanon in a restaurant called The Titanic, but with no fear that it might sink because it was firmly set in a mountainside. As midnight crept up, I thought about all the things I should make resolutions about, which were pretty much the same things that I make resolutions about most years, and decided, no, not this year.
Midnight arrived with an amazing explosion of fireworks and lights, a magnificent view over Beirut and the bay, but with not a resolution in sight. It was strangely liberating.
Instead, those things that were once called ‘resolutions’ are now on a list of things to be done this year. They have a “higher priority” than most other things on the list, but there is far less stress attached to them now that they are not governed by those stringent, guilt-inducing resolution laws.
So, I’ve got lots of things on my list of things to do this year: a book to finish and a book to develop, another to possibly rewrite, and a few ideas to explore, most of them dark, edgy, gritty, and contemporary. One of my "high priority plans” this year is to explore another genre. It might just be a case of dipping my toes in, or I might want to paddle, and if I dive in then the writing will still be dark and edgy and gritty, but it might just take you somewhere else, different land, different time...
“High priority” plans may sound very similar to New Year’s resolutions, but believe me, they are not. They have a different feel about them: stress- free and guilt-free, and they can’t be broken. Now let’s see if they work!

6 comments:

  1. Go for it Savita and stuff New Year resolutions - we need goals all year...

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  2. Too right, Miriam! My goal this month is to finish the WIP! Unfortunately, half-term gets in the way...

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  3. Good for you! It will be an amazing year! (Meanwhile where's the photo of you roasting the new year in Beirut?)

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  4. Candy, I hope you're right about this being an amazing year! Hope it's good for you too. You know me and photos - never have a camera around when I need one!

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  5. Good stuff. Using the new year as a way to solidify plans and re-energise ideas is a great concept. I would have liked some pics, too, and would love to know how Beirut and Lebanon are coping with all the upheavals in the region. Well, I hope...they are places that deserve peace and prosperity.

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  6. Jane, the concept may be good - let's see how it works! Don't know how to post pics up on this blog, so I may add an album to my FB page with some pics. As for coping - I think they are just about coping. It's an absolutely stunning place. One of the most awesome and most beautiful sights I have ever seen is there - the Jeita Grotto, which has to be seen to be believed!

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