Happy 2020!
Whether you chose a party with friends, a dinner with a loved one, or a quiet night at home with your thoughts and a beloved pet, I hope you enjoyed ringing in the new decade. However you chose to celebrate the last night of 2019, it was momentous. A new day has dawned. A new decade has begun and it’s exciting.
Last night, I heard someone describe the new decade as the roaring ’20s, which resonated with me. I feel a new blog post coming on, smile.
“I made no resolutions for the New Year. The habit of making plans, of criticizing, sanctioning and molding my life, is too much of a daily event for me.”
– Anaïs Nin
This quote rings true for me. I stopped making New Year resolutions years ago. Oh sure, I’ve joined a gym, all gung-ho to lose the extra pounds and by February 1st, I was done. The new running shoes and yoga pants became part of my daily uniform. I swear to quit smoking several times a year, tried e-cigarettes with all good intentions last year, and that didn’t work (cold turkey is the only way to quit). I vow to throw out, give away my hundreds of books to friends and strangers, but find it difficult to part with books. A few years ago, my daughter kindly gifted me a Kindle and that worked well for maybe a year, but there is nothing like holding a book. Some day, I’ll go through all my books and again gift some to my local library. Some day.
Writing and perfecting my craft is my long-range plan each year. I write full-time, so this makes perfect sense to me. I approach writing (and life) with a strong feeling, no, an urgency, that life is short. Unfortunately, life taught me with my beloved mother’s passing in 1992 that life can be short for some of us. So since 1992, I’ve tried to live each day as if it’s my last day on earth. My father developed Alzheimer’s in his early 70s and that also serves as a reminder not to waste time. I’m not saying I live in fear, mind you. No, it’s the urgency that motivates me to write as many books and poems as I can and to paint while I’m here.
This Christmas, I received three books on writing by A.M. Weiland, a beautiful journal for 2020, and I bought three books on plot and structure, dialogue, and creating character arcs by James Scott Bell, a new author for me. Six more books for my writing arsenal!
I’m not a Virgo who enjoys a strict routine of doing the same thing day in and day out. I’m not speaking about my writing routine, though. I’m talking about having my nails done every Friday or having a standing hair or medical appointment each month. Inevitably, I always reschedule. When I’m at the writing desk, I lose total track of time and my sleep schedule isn’t “normal”. When I’m in the writing flow, I’m productive and it doesn’t matter if the sun is coming up and I fall asleep at noon or 1 pm. I live alone, so the only one possibly bothered by my vampire hours, as I can them, is Sophie, my Chihuahua. God bless her wee little heart, as my Irish friend would say. The only routine I’ve stuck to for decades is my morning routine (whenever I wake up): stretching in bed, praying, meditating, drinking a cup of hot water with lemon, and writing in my journal, which I love. I write and let it go into the Universe.
What I will do this year is to be kinder, more compassionate, and gentle with myself. I will welcome mystery and the unknown. I will stop apologizing for this or that. Instead, I will release and remain grateful for the lessons. I will raise my vibration and reincorporate yoga into my life, maybe Tai Chi, who knows? My body, mind, and soul need all that on this new day, in this new year, and in this new decade. I will continue to listen to the urgency within and take more chances and risks in life and love, and in writing and art. Time waits for no woman.
So, back to writing and editing poems. I crossed off several items on my bucket list in 2019 and traveled to Thailand and Florida with my children, which made me very happy. Now, I buckle down. I have books to finish and art to make.
May we speak truth to power in our words, deeds, and in our writing. May we always remember to honor and respect Gaia, the ancestral mother of all life. May we remember the forgotten, the marginalized, the lost and jailed children, the separated families at the border, and may we continue to fight against racism, the patriarchy, hatred, and world-wide violence against women and children.
I guess I do have a few 2020 resolutions. Welcome, 2020. Happy writing to you.
“What I love about now is that it is always a beginning.” – Byron Katie
Eleanor
About Eleanor:
Puerto Rican-born Eleanor Parker Sapia is the author of the multi-award-winning novel, A Decent Woman, published by Winter Goose Publishing. Her best-selling debut novel, set in turn of the century Ponce, Puerto Rico, garnered Second Place for Best Latino Focused Fiction Book, English at the 2017 International Latino Book Award with Latino Literacy Now. The book was awarded an Honorable Mention for Best Historical Fiction, English at the 2016 International Latino Book Awards with Latino Literacy Now, and was selected as a Book of the Month by Las Comadres and Friends National Latino Book Club. Eleanor is featured in the anthology, Latina Authors and Their Muses.
Eleanor currently lives in Berkeley County, West Virginia, where she is working on her second novel, The Laments, set in 1927 Old San Juan and Isla de Cabras, Puerto Rico. Look for The Laments in 2020.
BUY THE BOOK:
Eleanor Parker Sapia, AWA 
Happy New Year, Ellie. May it be the best ever! Arleen Williams
Goodness, thank you! I’m just seeing your kind New Year message, Arleen! May 2021 be the best ever! x