CREATING A NEW YEAR

Well, it is not the beginning of the year anymore, and half of a month has gone by. But if I didn't get hung up on time and its problems, 2010 has been a year I have floated through so far.

Part of that is due to the Santa Clara Reading Association Conference at Asilomar, a reading conference on the beach where I was well taken care of as a speaker, and in the company of other authors, artists, librarians and teachers. There could be nothing better in my mind. Right after that was a trip to Campbell, California in the San Jose and a day at Fammatre School, a school that is proof that there are still happy schools teaching happy students. Two other authors will be coming this week...Bob San Souci, and Jeff Savage. I had such a good time speaking to the kids and recharging my own batteries of creativity.

So, while the year is off to a wonderful start, I have work to do. Starting a new year is like getting the idea for a book. For some reason, you think it will be finished by the end of the year. But the truth is I am still working on projects from three years ago...they might be done in a month or it might take all year. I am still painting in the studio, finishing a vineyard painting I started while painting outdoors several weeks ago. And I am still creating three new stories...all of which I can only hope I will "finish".

January is a time of relaxation and expectancy, and when our mind is cleared of the obligation of success that comes towards the end of the year, it is a time of creativity because no matter how we are programmed it seems we think of life in years. I keep hoping that way of thinking will change, but it is up to us to make the change if it is going to happen. So while, in my mind, I am lining up projects that will get done this year...books to complete, paintings to be done, I know that they are all part of an ongoing process.

While all these new things are getting started, I look to the past that I can count on. This year, my grandson turned two. I still get to take care of him one day a week and on the days that we are together I get reminded of how wondrous our world is because he tells me. The image above, called Jack's Tractor was his birthday present from me. He loves his grandpa's tractor and knows the names of just about everything that grows in the garden. When he comes next week, he will find all kinds of lettuces growing and tell me more stories.

Jack has a sister coming, so his "world" will change. All of us have changes coming this year. They are all worthy of stories. I hope that we can keep track of the potential for all of these stories.