It’s been another year come and gone. As I write this, we take a look back and see how long it’s been since 2014 and yet how close it still seems.
Source: Goodreads | Jaq’s Year in Books
So, a year or so ago I thought I’d try my hand at a reading challenge. I wasn’t very good at keeping up to date with tagging the books, so I’ve gone through now and let’s see how I did – Not bad considering I wasn’t paying too much attention.
As far as getting out of town goes, I did a fair bit of that, as I try to do every year. January’s trip (there’s almost always a trip in January) was to Northern Italy. There was also a couple of trips to Poland with Monika and the big trip to the US.
I wrote more than I did last year, but only a little. I did succeed in publishing a few short stories and writing some other original bits but the end of the year found me with a lack of energy for anything not on a deadline. I have big plans for 2016 in terms of writing, including a dissertation, but there are some other complications which may get in the way. my book and movie review scheme started off strong but fizzled somewhere along the way. I’ll try to get back to that but again, it’s a matter of prioritizing the time.
In general, 2015 seems like, as they say in sports, a rebuilding year. I gained a little bit of ground in some aspects and lost some in others. I find myself becoming less tolerant of people who choose not to think but expect all the answers to come from a forwarded Facebook post. 2016, on the other hand, will be a time of big changes (which, yes, will be blogged about), which are already in the works. I will have to rededicate myself to making sure work gets done, to not falling into time holes. A friend and I once had a discussion where we concluded that other successful people weren’t smarter than we were, they just had better time management. In today’s world, where it’s easy to fall into a click trance and spend way too long watching videos and arguing with people whose opinions will never change, it’s hard to pull away and refocus on yourself and those immediately around you, who need you and who you need.
That is what I look forward to in the coming year. Being there for you. And letting you be there for me. and making sure my soul gets the time it needs to what needs to be done.
Happy new year, folks! See you on the other side!
Getting the Hang of Thursdays 