It’s that time of year again, when we look back on what 2014 brought us and imagine what the coming year might have in store. Everyone is making their “best of” lists and resolutions. So here’s the obligatory New Year’s Eve blog post.
What did 2014 mean to me?
The end of cancer treatment. OK, that’s not technically true, since I’ll be on tamoxifen for at least another 8 years, and the active portion of my battle (chemo, radiation and double mastectomy) has all been done since 2012. But I’ve been doing reconstructive surgery every three months since then, and just two weeks ago I had the final procedure. I’m as close to “back to normal” as I’m going to get. I have boobs, and I have hair. These are good things.
My primary career has reached the point of small victories. The big milestones are long behind me (getting into vet school, graduating, finding a practice that fits me well, becoming competent). Now my veterinary wins are on an individual scale. A new case to solve. A new procedure to master. New recent grads to mentor. I am aware every day that I am what I always wanted to be.
And 2014 saw the first promising signs that my writing might someday reach people. First published short stories. First published poem. First blog of my own. There are people in the publishing world right now reading novels I’ve written. Will they like them? Will they like them enough to want to publish them? Who knows. I’ve written a lot of words. I’ll keep writing more until I find a string of them that together make a novel that people will want to read. I hoped 2014 would be the year that saw me get a book deal. Now I’m just hoping it was the year in which I wrote a book that will someday get a deal. If not, then it was the year that saw me improve my craft such that a book deal will eventually occur.
I’m making new friends in the writing world, and enjoying my old friends who’ve supported me in all things. Today is my wedding anniversary. Andrew and I will celebrate at a friend’s party…the same party where we married eleven years ago. Nearly all the same folks will be there. We’ve all changed; some of us more than others.
But in the end, the turn of the year is just one night. Tomorrow is no different from yesterday. In some parts of the world, it’s 2015 already.
Happy New Year.
Wow! Congratulations on reaching such a huge milestone in your cancer treatment! And I love your attitude about writing. I hope that last year’s books are indeed the ones that help you achieve writing success in 2015. Good luck to you!