In the Celtic tradition, the new year begins on Samhain (pronounced SOW-en), which falls on October 31. I don't actually have any Celtic connections myself, but I feel a resolution coming on and a pagan new year will do just fine for that.
My resolution is actually a bit of a cheat. A few days ago, I discovered National Novel Writing Month, which is an event where folks sign up to write a 50,000 word novel during the month of November. The web site is full of all kinds of inspiration and pep talks for overcoming whatever writer's block one has, and just devoting a month to writing. A lot. In a fit of self-delusion I signed up to write my own novel in November but almost immediately realized that there wasn't a chance in hell that I would start let alone finish that kind of project.
But I do want to write and I really want to get blogging more regularly again. So I've decided that instead of writing a novel, which isn't going to happen, I will blog daily for the month of November. I know that for some bloggers that isn't any kind of feat at all, but for me, currently blogging at a rate of barely one post a month, that will be quite an accomplishment.
It's a scary thing to make public any kind of resolution, but this one gives me no place to hide (unlike say a flossing resolution, which only my hygienist knows if I've stuck to) so I'm hoping the added accountability helps to keep me on track.
Happy Samhain!
