As I’ve shared in this space before, one of my annual traditions is to prepare and mail holiday greeting cards. Although fewer and fewer folks send out year-end greetings, I continue to prioritize this annual tradition—as a way to reflect on the past and make way for the future, stay connected with family and friends, and to enjoy another creative outlet.
If you are one of my regular readers, you know by now that each year I begin the process by paging through my (old-style) calendar, making note of the highlights and ordinary happenings. I next look for themes. I approach the task as an exercise in creative expression, aiming to share our family’s news in a way that is reflective of the world events and/or a major aspect of our personal lives. And, while I am acutely aware of deep levels of pain and suffering in our world, I often choose to center my annual reflection closer to home and on more joyful aspects of our lived experience.
There were some very difficult experiences for our family this year, including the loss of my mom which I mentioned in my last post. But there were also many joyful events, including my youngest child graduating college and our family taking TWO very special trips together. Our most recent family adventure was visiting Italy, which is dear to us all for many reasons, including the friendships we developed through hosting a most wonderful exchange student from Milan back in 2017 and both kids studying abroad in Italy during college, (one in Florence, one in Siena). Add to that my mom's Italian heritage and her love for pizza (eating it and making it), and a slice-of-life pizza theme seemed the right choice for this year's greeting:
As in years past, this year's greeting involved the creative stretch of using more graphics (even if it doesn't look very fancy, it challenged me a bit!) and gave me an excuse to continue experimenting with online tools such as Canva. Like most years, the greeting format required me to prioritize what I wanted to communicate and be concise in my wording—also a challenge! This practice continues to support my growth in other aspects of my creative writing journey.
As I designed, refined, and reflected on this year’s update, I was reminded that pizza (and life) is a collection of ingredients and slices that come together to make the whole pie. Some bites are glorious. Some are a little harder to swallow. Some pizzas are so enticing, we jump right in and take a big bite...and might burn the roof of our mouth! Other times, we fill up before the pizza is finished, and we have something left over for the next day. Pizza for breakfast (I like mine cold) is a completely different meal than piping hot pizza for dinner or lunch. And it's a good reminder that pizza, like stories, can become something new (and potentially even tastier) when stored away to revisit another time. It's also a good reminder that we all have our favorite go-to toppings, but it's also nice to step outside of our comfort zones and try something completely new. This idea can be applied to our creative lives, too!
With this in mind, I'm currently participating in fellow children's author, Julie Hedlund's 12 Days of Christmas for Writers series for the first time. In today's module, Julie pointed out that New Year's resolutions traditionally start from a place of what didn't get done or achieved in the previous year. She suggests that instead of making resolutions for the coming year, we reflect on, write down, and share our SUCCESSES from the previous year. Given that 2024 was a bit of a doozy for me, I was quite surprised that I was able to quickly scribble down 20 successes. I share them here as a way to try something new in my creative life and as a way to build a foundation (and inspire myself, and maybe you?!) for next year. Here is my list:
1. Signed with a literary agent (thank you Gaby Cabezut for bringing me into the Seymour Family, and to fellow author, Stephanie Shaw, for being one of my kindest, and most supportive friends and fans).
2. Started (and finished!) a new manuscript that I had been noodling for quite some time, but had not yet put on paper. I adore this story, and it is currently out on submission. (Thank you again, Gaby!)
3. Made significant revisions on two additional stories (that I also love), one of which is also now on submission (Thank you again, Gaby -- do you see a theme here?!)
4. Obtained my rights back on several of my previously published works, allowing for agent Gaby to now market some previously unexercised rights.
5. Participated in several fun and successful in-person book festivals / book signing events.
6. Was invited to participate as a guest blogger for Tara Lazar's Storystorm (a great honor, as a longtime participant-participant).
7. Hosted an Ask me Anything (AMA) session over Zoom that I really enjoyed. I want to do more of this!
8. Was interviewed for two different in-depth "meet the author" features.
9. Celebrated the release of my longtime critique partner's debut picture book.
10. Met some lovely people and got to know some other author friends better as a result of hosting them on my blog (find a summary of these posts here and here)
11. Participated in Julie Hedlund's 12x12 challenge for the first time, making new friends and learning a lot along the way.
12. Enjoyed the heck out of giving away several copies of my book, LUCY'S BLOOMS, in celebration of World Kindness Day.
13. Was honored that several of my signed books were given to beloved children for the holidays.
14. Had the pleasure of helping and encouraging several aspiring authors on their own creative journeys.
15. Shared friendship and support with a few of my longtime author pals.
16. Had some great school visits and enjoyable stops at bookstores.
17. Had friends reach out to me to share pictures of my books spotted "out in the wild." (This is always such a treat! Thank you, friends!)
19. Applied for and was accepted for several author festival-type events that will take place in the coming year.
20. Was hired to present the 2025 keynote address at a major early learning conference where I've presented several breakout workshops in the past.
So there you have it ... a quick recap of some of my successes in the past year. And here is the really cool part: There were likely several other successes that didn't pop into my head right away, that will come to my mind over time, now that I've focused my thinking in this way, written it down, and shared it with you, here. Cool beans. Thanks for the nudge, Julie!
And now back to pizza: As the New Year gets underway, I anticipate there will be opportunities to settle into some familiar favorites, try out some new-to-me ingredients and other opportunities to let today's creations sit and chill for a bit before digging back in.
Here’s to a pizza topped with Peace, Love, Joy, and Creativity in the New Year.
Buon Appetito to you and yours!
P.S. I would love to hear some of YOUR successes in the past year -- feel encouraged to drop them into the comments!
