Normally I’d be moaning, walking into furniture because my thoughts were filled with great vacation memories of the lobster tail I gorged on, or the beautiful hike where I saw a Tufted Titmouse. But I can’t help it. There’s a great sigh of relief I keep hearing come from my own lips. Why? Because the holidays are over and the return to routine is comforting. I can ignore all those resolutions I made up under pressure and instead, start working on my true list of “new starts.” Not the “I’ll never eat chocolate again” kind. Instead, my To Do list centers (mostly) on activities that make me happy. Even if most of them are activities that I’ve been doing for years, January always helps me look at them with fresh eyes.

Here’s my list of “news:”

1. New yoga class… I don’t really like yoga, but I know it’s good for me and I usually feel lighter, more energized after. As long as I don’t think too much about how ridiculous I look, it’s okay.

2. New chapters. I’m about 100 pages in to a novel and sometimes at that point, the forward movement comes to a scary halt. Believe it or not, I actually like looking at a new, blank and startingly white page, so getting to start brand new chapters somehow gives me freedom to write more sh#$%ty drafts.

3. New closet....Okay, my closet isn’t really new but I did spend most of a day re-arranging the clothes so I could actually see them. Hey, even the small victories are worth celebrating!

4. New Classes & New Instructors… StoryStudio is always adding in new classes and instructors and that is such a great pleasure for us. We already have a few new courses for Spring2010 and I’m on the lookout to expand our faculty roster later in the year. (Some new or semi-new classes include Novel, Short Story, the daytime Story Workout, & Pitchfests. Plus, we’ll be doing more parties and Pubnights.)

5. New Business Writing Workshops... The studio has offered business writing classes for a long time. But in 2010 they’ll be getting even more attention as we add in courses and build a certificate in business writing program.

6. New Books to Read..."Wolf Hall.” “Alice Munro.” Need I say more?

7. New Vacation House in New Zealand… Just kidding. But a girl’s gotta dream, right!

New beginnings. Life is full of them if we only take a slightly wider view of our world.

What’s new for you in 2010?