Making Plans for 2015

Most of us have probably already looked back on 2014 and evaluated our progress on our careers, our personal situations and perhaps even the state of our souls. Now that we're well into the first week of 2015, should we set goals for this next year.

You might have heard how few people keep the resolutions they make each year. 8% of people making those resolutions actually achieve their goals. Over a third of us never make resolutions. Here's some stats for how those resolutions work out for people.  If you do make them, you're more likely to achieve them if you make them public. More than a few bloggers will make their public by putting them up on their blogs.

The number one resolution made by people has to do with losing weight and the second is to get organized. Either of those sound familiar?

Even if you don't make a resolution or set a specific goal, the start of the year is a good time to change a habit or try to create a new one. An exercise habit, a writing every day habit or perhaps a regular blogging habit.

Blogging creates networking connections and 2015 is a great time to increase yours. The signers for 2015 A to Z Blogging Challenge will open later this month. Now is the time to plan your networking plan for the year. April too far ahead for you to think about?

Are you part of the IWSG blog hop? This group posts the first Wednesday of every month and shares problems, solutions and some great ideas. If you're not part of this group, this month is a good chance to join. Well into its third year, this month the participants are going to re-introduce themselves to everyone. It's the perfect month to learn about the members of this group, their strengths, their accomplishments and why you'd like to be part of their network. If you're unsure if you want to take on another group, this is a perfect month to check it out and understand who you would be making connections to as part of that group.

For 2015, you might want to make some plans even if you aren't making resolutions. IWSG posts 12 times per year. A to Z posts for one month solid. It's not an entire plan but if you saw Guardians of the Galaxy, 12% of a plan is a pretty good start when you're surrounded by friends.

Are you making plans for 2015? Have you ever made resolutions? Are you part of the 8% for 2014?

Looking Back...

This is my first post of 2015. I love that I am sharing it with you, my fellow A to Zer’s. As I sit here, propped up in bed after a day on the road, the last of my “holiday travel” I have no clue what to write about. I want to give amazing advice, wonderful words, be a meaningful model but all of that falls short of what my heart is full of right now. What my heart is still “digesting” is how lucky I am. I had a wonderful time with my family over the last few weeks, and with loving friends. Connections were made and previous ones renewed. I go into this new year with a feeling of hope and of being loved after some really hard moments in 2014. I know that I am not alone in my hopeful feelings, but I am also aware that not everyone was as lucky as I was in 2014. So if I have one thing I will take away from last year and all its trials and joys, that one thing is that I am grateful, I am honored, I am aware and want to share the blessings I have been given. I know we are often told, "don't look back," but I hope that as you begin your new year you do have a moment to, instead of only looking forward or making new year’s resolutions, look back and think on what you have learned from the last 365 days, what you might have to offer to the universe for the blessings you had, or if your year was not so great, that looking back might give you the strength to make this year better. A new year is upon us. 365 chances to make good. I’m going to do my best to make something I can be proud of with those chances. This post is, I hope, a good example. Because for someone who didn’t know what she wanted to say here this time, guess I found something to write about after all. 

Images from:

neighborsbuildingbrightmoor.org

bitsofwisdom.org

www.artsjournal.com

Happy 2015 New Year!!!

Happy New Year to everyone, regardless of the country or time zone you live in. May 2015 be a year of peace, health, and prosperity to you and yours.

Storyteller's Perspective: Make 2015 the Year of Stories!

In the spirit of filling up 2015 with stories both new and old, here are 10 things you can add to your New Year's resolutions!

1. Collect some family stories
Now is the time to buy a digital recorder (or fire up your smartphone) and visit Grandma, Auntie, or Second-great-uncle-in-law down the street, and record a few hours of their recollections. Believe me, you will thank yourself later. Or someone else in your family will thank you.

2. Dig down to your roots
Do some genealogy research (and revel in the fact that many archives are now digitized). Find out where some of your ancestors came from. See if you can dig up some stories about them, or the moments in history that directly affected them.

3. Relive traditions
Go visit the library and find some folktale collections from the cultures your family came from. Read them.

4. Cook something sweet
Buy a notebook and write down some family recipes. Ask around. Write the recipe on one page, and write personal notes on the other - who you learned it from, where it came from, who cooked it best, who made the biggest mess at first attempt, etc.

5. Diversify
Find stories from cultures you don't know about (but always wanted to ask). Seek out storytellers that visit from far away. Find lists of authors who have a different perspective. Enjoy, appreciate and promote diversity in all forms of story.

6. Attend a storytelling event
Look around for story circles, concerts, festivals, or other storytelling events in your area. Go visit them. Enjoy.

7. Make a new personal storytelling tradition
Make a little time in your day (or week) for stories. Bedtime is great, but sometimes it just doesn't work out - but don't fear! There are other options. Listen to a storytelling CD on your way to work. Share an anecdote with a friend over lunch. Write a blog post length story every weekend. Or every day.

8. Follow the path
Find and follow people of story on Twitter, Facebook, blogs, and other social media. Enjoy the tiny snippets of story news every day.

9. Time capsule
Record some of your own stories for posterity. They don't have to change the world. Imagine that you are making a time capsule and you have to include the five (ten) most significant events in your life. Write down the stories. Store them in a good place. When the time comes, share them.

10. Fund a storytelling project
Go on Kickstarter, IndieGoGo, or another crowd funding website, and look around for stories. Spend a few bucks funding the ones you would love to hear (or read). Treat yourself to being a midwife to a new story.

+1. Don't forget to participate in the 2015 A to Z challenge! Share your stories!

Happy New Year, everyone!

Csenge (@TarkabarkaHolgy)
The Multicolored Diary - Adventures in Storytelling
MopDog - The crazy thing about Hungarians...

Characters Who Blog

It's Christmas Eve, one of the most magical days of the whole year. The stockings are hung by the chimneys with care and we join together with our friends, family and loved ones to celebrate. I thought long and hard about which character most deserved a chance to speak out on this special day (for there's no shortage of Christmas folklore to choose from), but there's one in particular that seemed desperate for a chance to share his story. A cold-hearted miser who learned the true meaning of Christmas . . . 

I hope you enjoyed checking out Ebenezer's blog! And no matter which holiday you're celebrating this time of year, in the immortal words of Tiny Tim, "God bless us, everyone."