Brighten the dark days of December

A Holiday Blog

 

We were busy yesterday celebrating the Solstice. I believe this is my favourite holiday and not just because of the Baileys and mulled wine! I find the long nights, well, LONG. There is comfort in burrowing down at home in the dark winter but I feel more alive and hopeful in the sunshine. Solstice marks the time while we are suspended for a few days until the slow turn back towards the light.

The new year approaches and we can consider what goals we would like to achieve as well as what habits we would like to set aside.

One of my goals is to get a short story published in a collection of Cornish writers. I have submitted my piece and am crossing fingers and praying for success. For me, it would feel like I have been formally accepted into the writing community in the county where I live. I worked for weeks on the story and feel I have made my best effort, but sometime that is not enough. I shall find out in February.

I am also in the process of rewriting a novel, no, COMPLETELY rewriting a novel I have been working on for the past two years. I would dearly like to finish it because I am getting sick to the back teeth of it. It would be lovely if it was picked up by an agent but I am not setting my heart on that. I have enjoyed self-publishing this past year and may have another go at it.

Finally, I’d like to improve my knowledge of the Italian language as I am going to Naples in May. I’m very excited about the trip and will certainly be writing about it in my blog.

In the meantime, I hope that anyone that reads this finds the brightness in the holiday season. It is easy to use this time of year to remember things past and get morose and maudlin. Certain Christmas carols always start me crying. Yes, there are people that we wish were still with us but weren’t we so terribly lucky to have known them? As Monty Python reminds us, ‘look on the bright side of life’.

(The photo is from the wonderful festival of Montol in Penzance, Cornwall)