A Clean Slate

[image error]I got my last rejection of the year a few days ago. It was kind of refreshing. Everything else I had submitted had either been rejected or accepted. Now I can start a fresh batch of submissions from scratch. Sort of like cleaning out one’s junk drawer. (No, I don’t equate my work with junk.) Some years, on the first day of the new year, I’ll look back at what I’ve accomplished with my writing and try to pinpoint: what worked, what didn’t. Nah, not this year. I just want new ideas, new markets if possible, a new approach to creativity. Of course, the “new year” is totally a human construction. The trees, our pets, the universe doesn’t have any idea that this day is different from any other. And I also know people (only a few) who don’t see this day as any reason to take stock or attempt to make plans for the future. They truly live in the moment. I admire that, but haven’t figured out yet how to apply it in my own life. So, for now, I see today as a clean slate, a chance to start over with no leftovers from the year just passed. That is, I did, until my CP Stephanie, when I was telling her this, said, “But what about . . ” naming a piece I still have out that I had forgotten about. Oh, well. Clean slates aren’t always, and don’t have to be, perfect. Seems like there’s always some little thing left in the junk drawer that you can’t figure out what to do with. So, I’ll just go on doing the best I can. I hope all of you have a great writing, and personal, year.