Blog: Stop wishing and start being in 2012

Happy New Year. Welcome to 2012.

It's been a long time since I've made a New Year's resolution. I don't see the point of making a resolution just because the seasons have cycled back around again. To accomplish a resolution, you have to be fully committed to it, no matter what the day or year. Any day can be the first day of a new life. But it is difficult to keep resolutions if you make them for the sake of the new year alone.

That said, last year I realized something. I had always been an aspiring writer. I thought of myself as an aspiring writer. And while I still aspire, the aspiration was what defined me. There is a saying in the workforce, "Dress for the job you want." And yes, it can mean clothes, but it also suggests preparing both mentally and physically. Last year, I realized that I needed to stop thinking of myself as an aspiring writer and start thinking of myself as a writer. Publication or lack thereof does not mean that the writing is not writing.

I realized I needed to stop aspiring to be a writer and start being a writer.  In 2011 I had a few poems published, won a couple of awards for my poetry, I started actively working with my friend Tim Robbins on a children's picture book, and I self-published a book of poetry in both paperback and ebook format (and let me tell you, setting up poetry in ebook format was not any fun at all).

I don't know what 2012 will bring. Maybe it will be the year I finally get a novel published. Maybe not. I don't have any resolutions for 2012, but I have goals. And even if those goals don't lead to publication immediately, they are helping me to become the writer I want to be.

So in 2012, stop wishing for your life to change and start being the person you want to be.