Jan 1, 2014 |
BETTER! 2014
Let’s be real: 2013 was a heart breaker, wasn’t it?
Everyone ~ and I mean everyone ~ has a story of hardship within the last 365 days. At the same time, everyone is looking forward to the New Year.
There’s always a sense of fresh. New. Hope. Promise. Something Good.
Am I right? As you’re reading this, aren’t you nodding and mentally going over your resolutions and new to-do’s? Don’t you feel like whatever happened in 2013, today begins the chance to change? A completely blank slate, to shape it however you want it to be.
Sitting Around
Yeah. Me, too.
The last two years I started the New Year with a theme. Two years ago I dared to be an awesome orange. Last year I set boundaries.
Today, I’m starting to be better.
2014: BETTER.
I have a brain bucket full of resolutions and ideas and goals and insights and dreams and warnings and… you get the picture.
I wrote out began my list. Things I want to accomplish/achieve/acquire in 2014:
- Get back to meal planning.
- Read a heck of a lot more.
- Do the Popover Project that I never did last year.
- Finish the interior improvements at Bedford Manor.
- Write. Write. Oh, and write.
- More Mother-Daughter Dates with my daughter.
- More Mother-Daughter Dates with my mother.
- Reach out of my comfort zone more. To people. To locations. To experiences.
- Create new recipes. And lots of them.
- Spend more time in my kitchen creating, less time cleaning.
- Redo the outdoor sprinkler system.
- Buy a reciprocal saw.
- Plant an olive tree.
- Craft more.
- Plant rose bushes.
- Buy fence slats.
- Buy many mason jars. In many sizes. For many reasons.
- Visit the Midwest.
- Get a passport.
- Visit Canada.
- Keep money in my savings account.
And so much more.
And as I looked at my incomplete list, I began to feel… overwhelmed.
This is the part where I channeled my mother’s mantra: “Simplify!” And, in case I didn’t hear her the first ten guzillion times: SIMPLIFY! (Stop yelling, Mom. I get it!)
My list is too long. It’s too exhausting. And honestly, too stressful. I can’t possibly achieve everything on that list.
And I’m not really sure I want to.
Sure, it looks good to put out there all these great goals. Oh, look at Molly’s Resolutions. This Girl’s got gumption! She’s a go-getter for sure! Okay. Quit laughing.
So this year, it’s not about New.
It’s about BETTER.
Taking what I already have, and working with it. Doing more, not different. Fixing, not forgetting. Stop adding to my plate and just enjoy what’s already there.
My goals for 2014 are the same no matter what day of the year it is: Be Better.
Do.
Be.
Dream.
Feel.
Live.
BETTER.
I’ll continue with the meal planning and the budgeting and the home improvements and the writing. Those are not new. If I gain a reciprocal saw and a passport, I’ll be happy. But if I don’t, the world doesn’t end.
I’ll make my life better because I’ll be better for the people in my life. I’ll surround myself with people who get it, who get me. Who encourage me and strengthen me and love me and support me. I’ll reach out more when I need them. And I’ll reach out to them when they’re not reaching out to me. I’ll make girl dates with Pam and Megan and Lisa and Nancy and let them know how they affect me and challenge me to be better.
I’ll let my family know I’m proud of them. For all they do. I’ll make the efforts to let them know I love them. No matter what. Just because they are who they are. And that’s good enough for me. They are always striving to be better, and I appreciate each and every one of them. All the time. And I’ll be better at telling them so.
Reading is something I do but not enough. Two years ago, I challenged myself to read a book every ten days. What was I thinking? In 2014, my goal is 12 books. Total. That’s right. Just one book each month. If I read more than that I’ll count it as a bonus. 12 books in one year is 10 more than I’ve read since last Christmas.
I’ll work on my current writing projects without starting new ones. I’ll finish NOLA and Amara’s Light and Broken Girl. I’ll record episodes of Five Minute Faith. I’ll do whatever I can to be the Writer I say I am.
I’m going to be a better version of myself and make my world a better place.
Not new. Not different.
But fresh. Hopeful. Good.
And definitely
BETTER.
Do Something
What’s your word for 2014?
And Frankly, My Dear… that’s all she wrote!
You may also enjoy reading:
Following Fabian
You can’t see where you’re going if you’re always looking behind.
The Friday Five – STORIES
Amara’s Light: Book One of the Grenalia Chronicles
Doing Something. Good.
Jun 7, 2013 |
Five Things Friday at Frankly, My Dear…
It’s been quite the week at New Inklings Press and at Bedford Manor. Mostly, I’ve been looking forward to this post: Five Things Friday (formerly The Friday Five). This is your chance to share stories and ideas based on a common theme.
As you can guess by the ALL CAPS word in the title, this week’s theme is NEW. It’s a beautiful idea. New can mean exciting or sometimes scary. It can bring amazing adventures or sometimes just a new perspective on the same situation. This week, I invite you to share Five NEW Things in your life. Do you have a new friend or significant other? Are you good at upcycling furniture or crafts? Did you sit in a different chair in your same old house and suddenly see things differently? Has a new project found its way onto your schedule and into your heart? Tell your Five Things here, and be sure to share. Don’t forget to come back and see what others have to say. And tell your friends… everyone loves a party!
And now, the Mojo Five Things Friday: NEW.
1. I am, of course, exceptionally thrilled with my NEW Blog design. It makes me happy just to log in and look at it, and then I get to actually write. I think my posts are better just to keep up with the better-appealing Blog. It’s less cluttered with ads, more streamlined with buttons. And the layout is so much nicer. It’s definitely on the TOP of my NEW appreciation.
Field of Dreams
2. New Inklings Press. My company. Of course I love it, it’s my Business Baby. But I love the name. It’s an homage to the Inklings, a writers group that C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien were a part of. Since The Chronicles of Narnia and The Lord of The Rings are some of my most favorite reads, how could I not name my company after them? Also, I’m in love with my Logo. My good-friend-almost-a-brother Joe designed it for me. I based it off my favorite Uncle’s design for his own writing. [You can read about that here.] But I’m not good with design. Joe laughed at my nearly kindergarten-looking colored pencil attempt at explaining what I wanted. But he understood. And he created. And now I have Uncle Roger’s frog for my Logo.
From Frog to Logo
3. “New and Improved.” To me, that’s the same as saying “One Size Fits All”. Which is, essentially, a lie. Let’s face it: If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Somethings are better left the way they are. Facebook, for instance, is always changing. Computer updates. How people take care of business. The “new and improved” automated voice services at Verizon only mean it now takes three times as long to actually talk to a person. Customer Service certainly was left out of the “New and Improved” equation for too many stores. Uhm. Sorry. Can you help me step down from my soapbox now? Thanks.
4. I have a New project. But it’s old. But it’s new. I started another Kickstarter Campaign to raise funds for another printing of both editions of The Unemployment Cookbook. At first, Kickstarter thought it was just a repeat of the Project from a few months ago and they weren’t sure it would work. Once I explained that this Project offers the Backer their choice of the First or Second Edition (or both), they approved it immediately. Click here to see the New Project and pre-order (or RE-order) your own copy!
Click here to see the NEW Kickstarter Project and pre-order (or RE-order) your Cookbooks!
5. My last “new” is perspective. I can’t explain it really; but there’s a change; nearly a Paradigm Shift inside. It feels as though my eyes are opening for the first time, or I’m looking through better glasses. There’s a knowledge inside me that I haven’t yet grasped, but I know it’s there, and it’s blooming. I have a deeper understanding of what’s important and what’s not; a new vision of goals and how to meet them. Along with this comes new actions: I’m able to take these baby steps and little by little combine them to make great strides. My Housing Project posts may be infrequent but that doesn’t mean we’re stagnating. Each day I write. Each month I’m getting closer to financial solvency. I’ve also realized it’s okay to fail now and then, with these and other goals. It’s okay to just be me… as long as I’m striving to be the Best Me I’m supposed to be.
And now it’s your turn. What Five NEW Things are on your mind? Have you blogged about them? If so, link up here. If not, just drop a comment or two… or five.
Come on over and we’ll chat on my Newly cleaned back patio. The coffee’s waiting…
My Housing Project: Il Bistro Patio
And Frankly, My Dear… that’s all she wrote!
You may also enjoy reading:
TGIF: A-P-P-R-E-C-I-A-T-I-V-E-L-Y
Q&A: What is this Cookbook Project and How Does it Work?
I Wore a Dress. And I Wore a Hat.
Sep 13, 2011
by Molly Jo Realy @MollyJoRealy
Another Writer’s Digest Community short-short story from last year.
Time to Say Goodbye . . . A New Beginning.
She closed the door, closed her eyes. She heard only the clicking of the lock falling into place as the only thought was her repetitive mantra, “Never again…”; racing, disorganized, scrambling any other sense of composure she may have had earlier.
Keeping her eyes as closed as possible, she stumbled down the hall toward the Living Room, and laughed a cynical laugh as the traces of death still surrounded her. Photos of an old love, letters from once-known strangers. Boxes and piles of chaos, the remnants of a past life.
She reached for her wine and after two thoughtful sips and a primal scream, tossed the remainder out onto the debris, leaving a poetic stain of red, dripping as though her lifeblood itself was pouring out of her.
She turned to the balcony door and stood just inside, her long shadow tracing awkwardly over the mess. The City roared beneath her, away from her; giving a false animation and electronic life to everything outside. There was no distinct sound she could clarify. Just… noise.
She returned then to the interior, listening only to the pounding inside her as it grew louder, stronger. Chilled by a life of unfeeling, she reached for the matches over the fireplace and watched as she struck them, one by one, over and over. Finally, one took flame and she gazed at its beauty, ever-changing yet always present, and knew what she had to do.
She watched in eternal slow motion as the small flame fell to the floor, opening a roar of wonders as it grew and ate and devoured all she had left. And she stood there. Watching with great intent until it pushed her back to the window, back to indistinction. There would be nothing left to save, even if she’d wanted to.
The heat pressed against her, and she relished its warmth. It had been too long since she felt… warm. She stood as her body purged itself of impurities. And longed to save herself.
In a flash, overtaken by bright, hot, licking tongues of flames, she opened the window into a collision of fire and air as both roared for her affections. Scrambling over the edge, she closed her eyes once again and allowed herself to slip into a familiar sense of the unknown. She knew only she could always start again.
And Frankly, My Dear… that’s all she wrote!
