Well here we are another year over a new one just begun as John Lennon once sang.
Usually at this time of the year I do a review of the year that I have had and also delve into my hopes and aspirations of what awaits me in the new forthcoming year. Yes I’m often guilty of making resolutions and breaking them very quickly but there is always one resolution or promise that I carry into the New Year with intent and desire and thus far over the past decade it is one that I have always carried out no matter how impossible it may have seemed at times. In fact it has been this way since the mid 1990’s but next year marks the beginning of the next chapter in my life.
Looking back a year ago my big goal in 2010 was to permanently move to Sweden which is a plan that had been in the making for two years and finally in October it became a reality. So this has laid the foundations to what awaits me in 2011. Just the mere mention of that number does send something of a shiver down my spine, the last year went very quickly but whilst it did I achieved more in the past twelve months that I have in any other.
But alas it was not all highs. I lost a very dear friend in Jessika who sadly passed away in the spring just aged 30. Yet it is her very existence in this world that put me into overdrive ensuring that my goals would be achieved this year. Life will never be the same without her, but in her memory I will live life for the both of us.
Next year’s goals is to stamp my mark in the writing world. This year has been quite frustrating with not only the level of writing that I have been producing but also on the publishing side. I finally completed my screenplay “Departure” and will begin the work on my new book “Neon” in the spring. I’ve gone through three publishers this year, one that has collapsed one that was just full of shit and I am currently with a smaller independent outfit. I think it was better to actually move to a smaller more reliable outfit rather than see my work gather dust by signing with a larger publisher. It is after all about exposure.
I also finally created an identity! Deanthebard! I know it sounds trivial and insignificant but when I looked at my internet presence I had so many usernames (blogs, Facebook, emails, twitter, writing etc.) so I decided to create one unique ID that will allow all of work and writing to be searched in one and I even went as far as buying deanthebard.com, Silly I know but it is always good to have everything under the same place.
Speaking of Facebook, I still cannot believe they closed my old account down. This was due to me trying to arrange a school reunion this year and as I found so many old friends that I had lost contact with I decided to add them all, they claimed I was spamming so they shut my account down. Certainly 2011 will see me less and less on Facebook and more on the rather excellent Twitter.
The use of social media is something that I will be doing more and more of in the next year, video blogging, podcast and increased blogging to ensure that my writing does not go too stale. No matter how busy I am there will always be room for more and more improvement.
I also have to be realistic and realise that there could be the chance that I have to return to the UK more and more, I have made Sweden my base but there is always the realisation that as time goes on there could be a temporary return to the UK but Sweden is the country I have chosen to make my home and nothing there will change.
So all in all 2010 has been an incredibly busy yet also rewarding year. I’m not going to make any bold predictions for 2011 but life is very good right now and I hope that this continues well into 2011.
Wherever you are, don’t be too drastic or hard on yourself as the midnight hour approaches look around you and you will realise that life is actually rather good. There are millions out there worse off than us.
Be kind to the ones you love, be happy to those who surround you and above all be true to yourself. Wherever you are whatever you are doing.
Have a wonderful New Year.
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