Happy New Year!

It’s been a peculiar sort of year to say the very least. You may feel like that’s a gross understatement.

As usual at this time of year, I’m feeling reflective. I choose to look back at this strange year as one that has presented quite a few challenges, but not one that was completely abysmal from start to finish.

Personally, this year has been a mixed bag. I’ve had some of my toughest moments, made plenty of mistakes, and probably spent way too much time sleeping ;)

But I’ve also had some beautifully memorable moments, and those moments became even more special when they were highlighted by the not-so-good stuff.

Believing in fate as I do, I don’t regret the bad stuff either, as without it, I wouldn’t have the good stuff to look forward to.

It snowed here on Sunday night. And I can’t quite explain how, and you’ll probably think I’m either over sentimental or crazy for saying this, but watching the large snowflakes falling down from the black canvas sky gave me hope.

My heart is lifted with hope at the moment. For some reason, nothing can seem to bring down my spirits. In a world that seems dark and bleak, I find myself with a fair bit of hope about what lies around the corner.

In the promise of a renewal in the new year.

Perhaps its sentimentalist or over-optimistic to think that things can only go up from here, and to be honest, I’ve never really thought of myself as an optimist. I remember the days when a friend of mine had to constantly remind me to keep a “positive mental attitude” as I was so prone to pessimism.

For a while now, I’ve described myself as a pragmatist, which seems to be essentially the same as a pessimist, just with a marginal amount more hope. But I don’t think that’s quite true of me either now. At some point subconsciously I started looking at the world around with a little more of a positive spin.

It may not last (as I said before, I’m pretty happy with everything in my life right now, which is most likely the source of this optimism), but I’d like to think that if/when things turn again, I’ll be able to keep some of that positivity.

As an author, it’s my job to imagine what could be. I’m not like Dickens, or the Brontes; I like a happy ending. I like to write something that will help my reader escape the unvarnished nature of reality into the perfect landscape of a novel where anything and everything is possible. Maybe that makes my writing a little unrealistic at times, but I don’t think fiction writing should necessarily be wholly believable in a real-world setting. In fact,

I think it’s better if you can accept the fiction as fiction.

So what if, as we all look ahead to 2021, we think of what could go well? What might go in our favour? What happiness lies ahead of us?

I love New Years. I’ve always thought of it as being like the ending of a chapter in a book and the beginning of a fresh one. Sometimes the chapter you leave behind is better than the chapter which lies ahead. Sometimes the chapter that you’re about to start writing is the best chapter so far. You can’t know until you turn the page.

This time last year, I vowed to let down my hair a little bit. To stop being so uptight and to take a few chances.

And then we were thrown into a global pandemic…

So, I won’t be making that promise again. Just in case. However, that doesn’t mean that I’m going to stop taking chances.

I recently watched the movie “About Time” for the first time. There were so many things to take away from it (definitely add it to your watch list if you haven’t seen it already), but it was the final message that stuck with me the best.

It said that we’re all travelling through time together, and that it’s our job to make every moment of the time we’re given count.

I don’t know about you all, but I don’t think I’ve been doing my best job of that. Even pre-pandemic. If we’ve only got a few moments in the vast infinity of time, shouldn’t we spend them living instead of just existing?

Covid pressed pause on a lot of our lives. It stopped us from doing what we wanted to do this year, and has completely transformed the world we live in.

But it is the world we live in. And it may not be easy, but I think that it’s our duty to keep living on in spite of everything else.

So, maybe, close your laptop/phone/tablet now, grab a coat or other warm piece of clothing, go outside, close your eyes and take a deep breath. Feel the world around you tingling

through every fibre of your being. The world is a pretty epic place when you’re paying attention after all. Appreciate what’s real, and what neither Covid nor any other force can take away.

We all get (or at least I get) lots of questions about what’s next. Whether that’s high school, college, university, a job, a relationship, a housing arrangement.

I think if there’s anything I’m going to take away from this year it’s that life should be lived in the moment, not constantly worrying about what lies ahead.

Now, I’m not saying don’t plan or don’t think about the future. As they say, “failing to plan is planning to fail”. And maybe planning ahead is the only thing you can hold on to right now. I’ll admit that even I am imagining ahead a couple weeks until I can see someone special I haven’t seen in months. It’s only human to think ahead, as far as I am concerned.

But if you think about it, the moment you’re living in right now is the only moment you have control over, so why waste it by thinking of what comes next?

This year represented 1/19th of my life. Which in the scheme of things isn’t actually that large.

And for me, I’d say I’d only skip about 2 out of 12 months of it. There are also some months I’d happily live through again, and I think that’s what counts.

If you’re feeling like 2020 was a bit of a bust, maybe have a go at doing that math yourself?

Look back at what was good about 2020 instead of what was bad, and if you’re struggling, remind yourself that this year was only a tiny snapshot in the wonderful journey that is your life :)

So what’s my upshot? As per usual, I’m not really sure.

Maybe just that although this year has been incredibly difficult, you can probably think of at least a few minutes that were worth salvaging.

Maybe that there are a few lessons about appreciating life we could all take away from 2020.

Or maybe just that I’m quite hopeful about 2021. It might be a good year, it might be a bad one. But either way, as for right now, I’m happy. And as I’m going to try to live a little more in the right now, that’s a good thing.

To finish up, this week I asked you all on my Instagram (@roxyelle01) what hopes and/or thoughts you had for 2021. Hope you enjoy reading them through (it was amazing to have your input):

- Find a great song to play

Absolutely love this suggestion; at the moment, I’m just replaying the Hamilton soundtrack over and over again haha. It is incredibly catchy to be fair to me 😊

- Finish writing a book

A great goal, and one I can totally relate to haha. Hopefully going to start my fourth Serena Blackwood novel in the new year; hope yours goes well.

- Travel

Good shout – I can’t wait until we can get back to travelling. My travel bucket list keeps getting longer and longer.

- A more peaceful world for a start

Sounds like a good place to start; clearly, once again, we agree 😉

- Be able to stroll into a nightclub

Yes! I miss dancing so much… and drinking of course 😉 We may be waiting a while though…

- To start a blog, learn to drive, and to look after my mental health and try cope better with my anxiety

I think these goals are absolutely amazing, and if you need any blog tips, hit me up 😊)

I guess all that's left for me to say is Happy New Year to one and all. I really hope 2021 is a good year for you all :)

#roxyelle #newyear #2021