The Last Work Day and Week-end of the Year

Here we are at the last work day of the year.  Some of us already worked our last day of the year and are on vacation.  I will head to the office, where the skeletal crew grows ever bonier.  Once we get to noon, I expect to be the only person from the academic side still on campus; Admissions will continue working past sunset.

We will have a quiet New Year's week-end.  I am not one to go out on New Year's Eve to spend two or three times the amount of money that a night out would cost if I went out on some other week-end.  I do not like crushes of people. 

And like many people, I have mixed feelings about the turning of the year.  I spend too much time thinking about all that I didn't get done.  Over the next few days, I'll spend some time thinking about what I did accomplish, not what I didn't.

I will also take this week-end to enjoy activities that I've always enjoyed and hope to have more of in the new year:  time with friends, time to read, time to write.  I've been doing a bit of the accounting that I always do this time of year, and I'm surprised how many short stories I wrote for my "activists at an applied art school at age 50" collection--seven!  And all but one of them are ones that I'm sure I'll include in the collection--and that last one, too, isn't bad, so much as it doesn't seem to fit--which may mean I should include it.

I want to focus on this collection in the coming year:  to write more stories and to create/finish the collection.  I need to write them before I get much further away from my time of working there.

My other writing goals are similar to what I've had in the past:  write a poem twice a week, and keep sending out submissions.  This year my goal will be to make one submission a week--I'm keeping this jump low, so that my inner publication horse doesn't get spooked.

I have other writing projects that are done, but this year, I'm not sure I'll pursue their publication.  That process is not bringing me joy.  And this year, with an accreditation visit in the offing, I suspect my writing time will be more limited than in other years--let me focus on the parts of my creative process that bring me joy.

So, this week-end let me focus on what brings me joy.  And let me enjoy my little trees for just a bit longer.  I really love this one with the canvas ornaments my grandmother made; the fiber optic lights seem beautiful this year:

And this one is an old favorite, with Chrismon ornaments made by my step-mom-in law; we've had them since the first years of our marriage:

More light in the new year!