Hello friends!  Hope you all had a marvelous New Year.  I know it’s been quiet around here.  Sorry to leave you all in the lurch!  I meant to start posting again on Monday but I was struck down by a new year flu (blech) for a few days, but now I’m back to normal and ready to start posting again.

Everyone and their mother is posting about writing resolutions, but I thought I’d do something a little different.  First off, I’m not sure I want to share all my goals and resolutions (mostly because I’m bound to have a #gabifail or two so this way I save myself the humiliation of having to admit it in public.)  But more importantly, I think resolutions aren’t just about setting goals and striving for them, but about a change in attitude and outlook.  Instead I’ve come up with a 2011 plan.

Picture Credit

• First, I’m doing the 100+ reading challenge for 2011 and I’ll be posting the books I read here.
• Second, this year I will finish the edits on my WIP.

0 Comparisons:  I’ll admit it, I can’t help but compare myself to the people around me.  I try not to–I really do–but it’s almost like a reflex and I can’t help it.  The college bulletin arrives in the mail and I always feel super-inferior because I haven’t discovered a cure for cancer, I haven’t finished a triathlon in record time, and I haven’t sold my start-up company for billions of dollars.

But then I started thinking… even if I knew how to do all these things, it’s not like I would actually want to.  Don’t get me wrong.  I’m very glad there are people out there coming up with cures for cancer, performing amazing physical feats like a triathlon or building start-up companies that give other people good jobs.  I’m glad these things are happening in the world.

And I’m also glad that I don’t have to be the one to do it.

This year, rather than letting these things get me down, I’ve decided I will not run away from the college bulletin.  I will not pathologically avoid Facebook.  When I see someone accomplish something great, I’ll send happy “Thank You” vibes to that person for doing it because it means I don’t have to.  And that means more time for writing.

1 New Approach to Creativity:  This video is super-inspiring!  It’s a bit on the long side but it’s SOOOOO worth it.  It’s totally changed my attitude toward the idea of genius and creative success.

“The core skill of innovators is error recovery, not failure avoidance.”
         ~ Randy Nelson, Pixar