“TIME FOR TIME” IN THE NEW YEAR

New Year Last Sunday morning, I spent my time writing a draft blog of Ten New Year’s Resolutions. It was intended to be both serious and amusing because (1) I am serious about these things and (2) I think some of them are ridiculous.   This is what I wrote: New Year’s has never been an important holiday for me because I feel like the New Year starts in September. However, since this seems to be the time when many people make resolutions, here are some of mine:  

  1. Accept the fact that I will never be fluent in Spanish
  2. Write one page of the new novel every day
  3. Learn as much as I need to navigate my new camera, Scrivener, LightRoom and Photoshop
  4. Stop beating myself up because I won’t ever fully understand the features of my new camera, Scrivener, LightRoom and Photoshop
  5. Read more
  6. Finish the article about Hartford-area Muslims that I started three years ago
  7. Spend more time with my family and friends
  8. Call people instead of sending them e-mails
  9. Stop telling my kids the same anecdotes over and over
  10. Slow down

Then, life intervened. My husband had a medical emergency that was serious but not life-threatening. We spent most of Sunday in an emergency room, which gave me plenty of time to contemplate the draft I had just written versus how I really want to spend my time. That made it easy to revise my New Year’s Resolutions. Here’s what I really care about:

  1. Spend more time with my family and friends.
  2. Slow down
  3. Write one page of the new novel every day
  4. Read more

I considered eliminating all but 1. and 2. but I would not be happy without writing and reading. As for the rest….they have faded into the “Not right now” distance. They are all things I want to do but there’s no rush. I’m going to take my French friend’s advice and make my own “Time for Time.”

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About Alexis

Alexis Rankin Popik, author of Kiss Me Over the Garden Gate, is an award-winning short story writer whose work has appeared in The Berkshire Review and Potpourri Magazine. She has penned numerous articles about local history that have been published in Connecticut Explored and the University of Connecticut School of Law and The Hartford Seminary publications. A former union organizer, Popik traveled the country educating shipyard workers about health and safety and founded a labor-management health plan before turning to writing fiction full-time. She lives with her husband in New England.
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