Looking Forward, Looking Back...

I promise myself I will get back to England this year...

Happy 2012 to everyone! I hope that this year brings you excellent health, abundance and happiness in all that you do.

It's a time of year when we look back and reflect upon the past 12 months. What were you doing a year ago? How far have you come since?

Me? I don't remember the first week of 2011. At all. I had a bad flu which led to me suffering a terrifying condition called hyponatremia.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyponatremia If my friend Craig had not been present when I collapsed in a delirium on January 2nd, I would not be sitting here right now writing this blog entry. As it was, I landed in ICU and a coma was induced for the best part of a week while Craig, my brother Dave and my Mom sat vigil. They'd been warned that I may not wake up, and if I did the chances of my being severely brain-damaged were high.

Obviously, I came around. Recovery took over a month.

To say this was horrifying is an understatement. I am glad I don't remember many details. But this was the third dance with mortality in as many years for me due to medical conditions (the other two bouts being due to pulmonary emboli in 2008). Despite the odds, I am still here.

I took the hint that life is short in 2011. I decided to stop pursuing the traditional publishing path and try my hand at indie publishing. Base Spirits (http://www.amazon.com/Base-Spirits-ebook/dp/B005L38G8E/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1325623793&sr=1-1) was a long time coming, but it's here and I'm proud of it. In the coming year I intend to see it make an impact with readers as I work on getting more writing out in general. I'm pleased to announce that my short story 'The Transformation' was accepted for the Dark Light anthology coming out in March from http://www.crushingheartsandblackbutterfly.com/ So far, so good. I have a few works in progress of various lengths. I will share them as soon as they are ready to be seen.

Not only was 2011 a personal struggle with health, but the wider world seemed to be going insane (more than usual!) Politics-- both here in Canada and abroad-- have taken strange and sometimes worrying turns, and the international economic turmoil and power struggles seem to be building toward a pitched battle between the forces of Good and Evil on a very fundamental level. I have felt the weight of the world very much this past year and it had me feeling battered and torn at times.

My mantra heading into 2012 is a two-fold one:

First, in the words of Douglas Adams, "Don't Panic". It's short and sweet, and covers most issues one may find themselves facing, large or small.

Second-- and more heartfelt-- are the parting words from the deeply mourned Canadian politician Jack Layton http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Layton He had his own, very public battles with bad health in 2011. Unfortunately for us all, Jack lost his fight.

"My friends, love is better than anger. Hope is better than fear. Optimism is better than despair. So let us be loving, hopeful and optimistic. And we’ll change the world."

This love letter to Canada can be found in its entirety here: http://www.ndp.ca/letter-to-canadians-from-jack-layton Wherever you live and whatever your political leanings, it is well worth reading and applying to your own life.

So my friends, let's all have an excellent year and change the world... if only in small ways.