2020 is finally coming to a close. It has been a rough year for everyone on this planet, and I definitely feel ambivalent about writing what in any other year would be a celebratory post about all I accomplished this year and my plans for 2021. Obviously, I don’t feel celebratory. I was only just starting to settle into D.C. with a great job and lovely coworkers and a wonderful new friend group when the pandemic knocked everything flying. And I’ve been lucky. I still have my job, and I am healthy and reasonably sane. But that doesn’t mean it was easy.
I’m also struggling with this post because as I write this, I’m sitting on the floor holding my Mopsy girl, who is very sick and will likely pass in the next couple days, and I’m struggling to think of anything but that. Mopsy deserves an entire post and so so much more, and she will get it, I promise. But this is just a horrendous end to a horrendous year.
I set a number of goals for myself in 2020. I don’t remember what they were, and I don’t think it would be productive to look back at my 2020 New Year’s post to see if I met them. But I continue to find that I deal with stress by being creative, and amid everything, I have accomplished quite a bit.
First, on the writing front, I had two publications this year. My story “A Valentine’s Fear” was published in February by Every Day Fiction and my poem “A World in Seven Flames” was published in the anthology Twilight Worlds: Best of New Myths Volume II. I also have another short story lined up to be published in 2021, so yay!
My writing group is flourishing, virtually of course. It’s become not just a writing group but a great group of friends. Without these guys I don’t know how I would have coped with everything going on this year. In October, we all took Covid tests and quarantined for two weeks before gathering in New Jersey for a Halloween writing retreat, which was a ton of fun, and in the new year we’re going to expand our activities beyond critiquing each other’s stories to also start holding mini workshops where we teach each other what we’re good at.
This year, I managed at least one new draft of three major projects, and more than one draft for two of those projects. I also wrote two new short stories and another poem, which was great because I’ve been so focused on novels for a while. I really enjoyed working in these these different forms, which present unique challenges all their own. Once again, I cope with stress by writing.
I actually wrote almost every day this year. I say almost because I didn’t write yesterday or today, but while writing every day has become a habit that works really well for me, I also have to admit that sometimes, like now, I need to focus on other things, and that’s okay too.
I also read 106 books in 2020. I’m almost done with two more books and I’m hoping to finish them before the end of the year, but it’s very likely life will intervene so we’ll see. Eleven of the books I read were in Braille. I really enjoyed so many of the books I read, and I can’t wait to share my favorite 2020 books with you after the new year.
My exercise plans were derailed by the pandemic, but I have continued the barre virtually, even though it’s not the same. I also didn’t blog as much as I intended, but this is a perennial concern for me. I did learn to make ice cream, and I’ve had a lot of fun practicing my cooking skills.
It’s been quite a year. I hope everyone is able to find some joy and peace as we bid 2020 goodbye and set off into 2021. I’m not planning to set any goals for myself in 2021. I’m just going to keep on doing my best and see where I land. So happy New Year! Here’s to 2021 being not 2020.