Monday, December 22, 2008

2008 Was the Year I...

The other night my friend Pat hosted our annual writers’ group holiday meeting. Every year she bakes these awesome coconut and chocolate chip bars, and pops bottles of champagne (okay, Prosecco). I love this night, because I love this group and the women in it — and it’s nice to have an occasion to celebrate it and us.

This year we had a hard time coming up with a theme. In the past, we’ve done work resolutions for the new year, work triumphs and regrets from the past year, and things to be thankful for. Ultimately we decided to honor what we’d done this year by naming an accomplishment.

For me, it was simple: 2008 was the year I became a writer. Ironically, I’ve been a member of writers’ group for nearly seven years, but before The List I hadn’t written a thing. I am an editor, I’d tell everyone, not a writer. And until last year, that was true.

Sometimes I wonder why this great group of women invited me to join in them first place; maybe they saw the writer in me that I never saw. Whatever the reason, I know I wouldn’t be a writer without them.

I felt a real sense at the holiday meeting of needing to appreciate what we have — and what we’ve done — this year. Which I think made us all feel more optimistic about next year. There was a lot of accomplishment floating around that room, and a great spirit that made you feel that all things are possible.

Sometimes you need to do a little accounting to realize how far you’ve come, and how far you could go.

Share your accomplishment of 2008. I’d love to hear about it.

3 comments:

Andie East said...

In 2008 I survived and flourished. I don't know what else need to be said.

Anonymous said...

I find great inspiration from the articles and cartoons found in the New Yorker. My list includes having one of my essays or captions published by them. is that goal worthy of being on your list? So much of the accomplishment is out of my control.

Have you seen this cartoon?
http://www.newyorker.com/humor/issuecartoons/2008/12/22/cartoons_20081215?slide=12#showHeader

Anonymous said...

It's definitely worthy of being on YOUR list! That's the whole point: Even if it seems like a stretch, putting it on paper can be very motivating. It's the first step towards making it real. You may not be able to control the end result, but the beginning's totally up to you.