Feeling reflective

I miss the seven day blogging challenge. It surely was a challenge to write something every single day - something for public consumption, that is - but it was also a great deal of fun. I played with a few different writing prompts, and allowed myself to put something up even if it wasn't the shining beacon of perfection I had hoped for. If I want to do something 'real' with my writing, I'd best get back to that mindset.

The trick is to just do it, right? That would seem to be a theme in my life just now, and I feel just as if I am standing on the very edge of the high diving tower. Taking that final step is pretty scary. But as the very wise Fran says in Strictly Ballroom, "A life lived in fear is a life half lived." She says it in Portuguese though, which sounds much more emphatic.

Someone close to me is going through the same thing. Not with writing, but with something that will have very serious ramifications, good or bad. I admire him for taking that brave step off the board into the unknown. Is it bravery, or is it wisdom that leads him forward? Perhaps it is faith with elements of both.

Today (actually yesterday) is my birthday, and that always seems to invite reflection and introspection. It's a good time to look over my life and adjust my course. People I've met and talked with and observed, things I've learned over the past year, finer clarity of ideas all serve as navigational markers along the way and help me figure out where I'm headed.

The early days of a new year always feel propitious. For sure this is going to be a good year, a great year, a big year! Wonderful and exciting things are going to happen this year. Maybe I'll be published; maybe I'll meet my Mr. Darcy; maybe I'll get the perfect job. Maybe I'll finally kick discipline in the butt and actually finish The Great Reading Project.   Whatever happens, it is going to be a wonderful and exciting year. 

It always is.