Happy New Year, everybody! The new decade is upon us, and how happy I am! The past decade was a toughie and in so many ways I'm glad it's behind me. Still, I cherish all my memories of my kids growing up. There were times when I grumbled about having to attend 3 or 4 winter concerts in one season, about weekend long wrestling tournaments spent sitting on hard bleachers, about too much time spent chauffeuring my kids to cello lessons and violin lessons, to orchestra rehearsals and Boy Scout meetings. About too little time for me. Still, looking back at it all now, I wouldn't change a thing. Our "boys" are now young men, off on their own and living in their own apartments, forging a life for themselves. If we do our job right, wrote Neil Gaiman, they leave us (not his exact words).
Yet I did make some time for myself. When I turned 40, I bought a gym membership and began working out. I built muscles I never knew possible. And it felt good. I also began taking drawing classes, something I have never regretted. I discovered I still loved to draw and found it relaxing, yet challenging. I still take drawing classes. Somebody who's proficient at his/her craft is forever a student of it. Or so I believe.
And if I hadn't spent all those hours sitting on the bleachers during my son's wrestling tournaments, I may not have found my way back into writing. Out of boredom, I began to compose poems during those tournaments. It helped pass the time. And after years of reading tons of children's books to my kids as well as my students, I decided to try writing my own. All those years of reading had developed my feel for plot, characterization, and setting. In short, for story.
Life is too brief to spend it regretting the past. All we can do is to make the best of what's happened and look forward to the future.
