I know it is a little early but Happy New Year to you all. I hope 2025 proves to be a good year. It would be nice to have less grim news but I think that may be something I will have to put on a wish list somewhere.
By the time this goes live on Chandler’s Ford Today, I shall be packing up after a lovely holiday in Scotland with my husband and Lady and preparing to have a long journey home again. So with that in mind, I thought I would look at journeys in writing.
It’s almost impossible at this time of the old year to resist looking back and weighing up what kind of twelve months it has been. The days and months of the calendar never change (well, bar leap years I guess and even then only by one day!), yet our attitudes towards the passing of time can vary so much.
I must admit this year has struck me as a sad one. I’ve known several friends lose loved ones and I was deeply saddened by the death of the Queen. I was (and remain) saddened (and angered) at the war on Ukraine. So on the face of it, 2022 has not been a great year (and we thought 2020 was bad!).
What I find helps is remembering feeling like this is normal. Every year has its ups and downs though in some years, it is harder work to recall the positives!
It was a pleasure to be a part of the Brechin/Angus Book Festival from 19th to 21st November 2021. The event also formed part of Book Week Scotland.
Last year, I went to the Festival thanks to Zoom but it was lovely to be there in person this time, my first “big” writing event since before lockdown.
Image Credit: Images created in Book Brush using Pixabay photos.
Reflection is an important part of life. We reflect on what we have learned, the mistakes we have made (and hopefully ensure we don’t make again). We reflect on courage and service (as shown by the Remembrance Day events).
A time to reflect makes us take that time out of our busy schedules to ponder on things that are important. Reflection also makes us slow down, also not a bad thing.
Certain life events also give us cause to reflect. And the last year or so has given us all more time than usual to reflect on what is going on (and generally not liking it much).
