Hello everyone,
Winnie Griggs here. Several days ago,
Mary Connealy shared her word for 2020, namely FOCUS. Reading her post inspired
me to search for my own word to guide me in the coming year.
I thought about
it long and hard.
Focus seemed
like a good word to, well, focus on, but that felt like cheating, sort of like
copying off of someone else’s paper.
The next word I
thought of was PRODUCTIVITY. After all I just signed a three book contract with
Grand Central for books to be delivered 7 months apart, an ambitious schedule
for me. But that still didn’t feel right.
Then I looked
around for inspiration, I eyed my very cluttered house with its crammed to
overflowing junk drawers, closets and guest rooms, and it hit me – SIMPLIFY.
This word works
on a number of different levels for me.
I need to
simplify my living environment by cleaning out a lot of the clutter that I’m
holding on just because I “might” need/want it someday. There are clothes in
the back of my closet that haven’t seen the light of day since I retired ten
years ago, there are also cute shoes I love but will never be able to wear
again because of my foot surgeries over the past few years.
I need to
simplify my writing environment. Having lots of craft books and reference books
lying around, as well as paperwork and easy access to social media has allowed
too many distractions in my workspace.
I need to
simplify my family life – I’m a compulsive list maker and perfectionist. By
focusing on my to-do lists and trying to get everything just right, I sometimes
miss out on spontaneous opportunities that present themselves to enjoy time
with family and friends.
There you go
– my word for 2020, let’s hope I can make it work for me.
So let’s chat.
If you haven’t already mentioned your word (or goals or focus) for 2020 on Mary’s
post, share it here. Or if you’ve tried the ‘simplify your life’ plan in the
past, please share any tips, pointers or lessons learned that you think might
help me.
I plan to give
at least one person their choice of any book from my backlist.
And just an
FYI, at the time this goes live I’ll be in the hospital recovering from
foot surgery so I may not be able to respond right away, but I promise to pop
in over the weekend if need be to read and respond to everyone’s comments.
