It is that time of year I start to think back about what I have done and what has happened during this past year. My natural progression is to then think forward to the coming year to map out plans to get new things done and put into motion things I want to do. I haven't done too much or really any of that this time. The only thing I have thought about is this recent past holiday.
I was sitting at the kitchen table on Christmas day with my younger son, Dante, and Sonnys' (my older sons') girlfriend, Selma. I had been forced to sit earlier by all three since it was apparent to all but me that I was getting frantic with the dinner preparations. They wanted me to pause and sit still and decreed I could not get up again until I finished two glasses of wine since I hadn't yet touched my first. It wasn't about drinking wine but making me stop and enjoy. They knew the dinner preparations were well under way and it was time to shift my focus. How well do they know me?
I very dutifully took my seat and it was pleasant. It did take me a few sips to turn down my feelings to get up and get started again but I managed. Somehow the conversation came around to my writing. Dante wanted to know about my book. He has always been a big supporter of my writing. He listened as I explained the draft wasn't done but I was going to rework the story goal and how I felt better equipped to get it done. He wanted to know when...February? So we could do something with it by say...August? Something with it?! Now he knows I am only writing it for myself but always goes past me on that. My goal is to write the first draft. He knows I am not thinking about anything else beyond that but he knows I can't stop him from thinking beyond and he isn't afraid to let me know.
I diverted the conversation by mentioning I had written a Rules of Writing, 4. He smiled. He knows about my pieces of fiction I have put here in the blog when I have gotten frustrated with my writing. He knows the offices I created to run to every time I build a major stumbling block for myself. We talked about the piece for a minute or so and it turned out that Selma had read the recent Rules of Writing, 4. She thought it was wonderful that I had this really kind supervisor named Eric that would listen to me whenever I had these problems I wanted to vent.
That is when Dante and I got an inkling that Selma was thinking there was a little more truth about Eric than there ever was. She said again she thought Eric was my supervisor...but a real one. Dante explained that those pieces are all fiction. I made them up. There isn't really an office. Selma added she remembers me going down this long corridor and Dante said, yes, and the receptionist. Yes, and Eric just lets me talk and...
I don't think she took the news that Eric wasn't real too well. I think she was a little bummed.
Dante turned to me and explained what I didn't need to be explained. He did it to reinforce the obvious since I have a tendency not to acknowledge some of the better things I do. He said, "she just gave you the best compliment she could give you, thinking your fiction was real." I know, I had to admit. That is when Dante brought the conversation back to the book and when was he going to get a chance to read it. He explained what I already knew - that he isn't a reader. He doesn't read. But he wants to read my book. I rapidly tried to explain it isn't a type of book he would even have any interest in. The subject isn't...
So when? I don't read but I want to read your book.
There really wasn't any way for me to get around that kind of support. A glass of wine, laughing at the kitchen table, a big compliment, and a show of support. How could I have a better way to look forward when I have things like this to look back on?
So it isn't necessary for me to mull through the past year to evaluate and plan. The best thing for me to do is to continue from my most recent positives to move forward. It doesn't take much to get equipped for the new year. Most people probably don't give it as much thought as I have done in the past. This year I know it will just take the right amount of focused effort and the smallest bit of support. I seem to have managed some healthy portions of both.
TT
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