Why I Go Quiet Over the Holidays

Happy holidays, everyone!

Two posts coming at you this week – the second half of my reader survey results, and this, my holiday message.

Why two?  That’s simple.  I like to take time during this season for reflection.  What do I feel gratitude about from this year?  What have I learned?  What would I like to change?  What does my ideal life look like, and how can I get there?

BIG questions.  The gratitude part is simple.  Apart from my great followers (thank you again!) and my happy readers (ditto!), I have a marvelous husband who is healthy again after this year’s scare.  Kind of a wake-up call on how both us of want to get closer to what we consider our ideal life.

We have two crazy dogs, also still healthy despite their white-fuzzed muzzles and the occasional creak in their joints.  (You should hear us sometimes – everyone in this house AND the house all creak!)  They have two speeds – turbo and snore.  I could learn a lot from them.

I have a long list of great friends, many who I consider family and who return the favor.  Our businesses are good.  While we worry about ‘things’ like most of us do, we generally feel secure and thankful and at peace with where we are today in our microcosm of the universe.

Tomorrow?  That’s a whole other story, at least for me!  I will be finishing up the Flynn’s Crossing series with the releases of the final novel and novella in early 2018.  I’ve been working on a series about a founding family of Portland, Oregon, and another about the gritty side of the city.  While I’ve enjoyed getting to know these characters, I’m also drawn to my series of tips for creatives, workshop offerings for that, and online courses.  The consulting I’m doing for creatives also flourishes, like something I’m meant to do.

Options – both a blessing and a curse!

To figure things out and set myself up for a good start to the new year, I’ve found I benefit from quiet time over the holidays.  I alter my routine.  I don’t spend significant time on social media or blogging.  I watch less news and read less of the newspaper.  I spend more time being – QUIET.

Somewhere in that quiet, the answers are usually revealed to me.  I find my way.  I know what to do next, and most importantly, how I’m best supposed to add value to the world in the new year.

I’ll be back in the second week of January, raring to go once more.  Until then, I wish you and yours a happy holiday season rich with wonderful laughter, great memories, and love and peace.

See you in 2018!  Happy reading!

Yvonne