If you're brave enough to fly

Happy 2011!

2010 was a mixed year for me.  It saw my son’s first full year, with the struggles and joy that held.  It saw my own struggles with postnatal depression.  It saw me struggling to keep on writing, to carve out a sense of who I was in the reshaped life I was living.  And it saw, just as the year was dying, the death of my father.  Six years of fighting against cancer was enough.  He is at peace now, and suffering and fighting no more.

I feel like I should be happy that 2010 is gone.  But for all of the struggles and all of the pain, it was a good year.  There was much joy, even in the darkest times, and I will always remember that.

2011 is a different year.

This is the year that I will commit to building a writing career.  That means minimising the time that I waste and really writing.  Writing the best book I know how to, and committing to continually improving my writing.

My father has taught me this.  Define what matters to you and fill your life with that.  I will be the best mother to my son that I know how to be, I will be the best wife, friend, sister, daughter and aunt that I can.  I will create something that I will be proud to leave behind me when I move beyond the veil.

Vale, my father.  You taught me well, and I will create a life that you would be proud of.

Mirrored from Stephanie Gunn.