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I’m late sending out my New Year wishes because I’ve just come back from a very productive solo writing retreat where I finished what I hope will be the last substantive edits on my book. Well, it wasn’t really solo — my trusted companion Phoebe tagged along. That’s her in the photo. Holy moly, I haven’t sent a newsletter out since last May! Since then, I’ve landed a book deal with Douglas & McIntyre, who will publish my book next September. That is SUPER DUPER EXCITING (you can tell how excited I am by all the uppercase letters) and you’re going to hear a lot more about that in the coming months. My blog will also be shifting to include more about my writing journey, though I will continue to write around topics of grief, addiction, and recovery. But, for this month, I want to focus on grief again because I know that a New Year can feel very bleak for newly grieving parents. I wrote the article below for the Healing Hearts Canada website, and have now reposted it on my blog. Without giving too much away, it’s about hope. So, with that in mind, I thought I’d share with you the top five things that I hope for myself this coming year. This year I hope that: I’ll be proud of the book I publish and that readers find it a helpful a hopeful read. I’ll look after my physical and emotional self as best I can: running, yoga, friendships, and communicating in healthy ways will be cornerstones. I can turn my business around after a rather slow period (too much book-writing, not enough industry networking). I find new and surprising ways to be creative and find joy. I continue to actively remember Tristan and share his story as a way to inspire others.
I also hope that I will take my multi-vitamins every morning and stop eating so many potato chips but…we all know that’s just wishful thinking! I wish you all a hope-filled new year, and SO much love to all of you who are navigating your first year of grief. Be gentle with yourselves. Podcast update Kimiko and I have put our podcast, On life’s terms: conversations about family, addiction, and healing on hold indefinitely. We’ll let you know if/when we resurrect it and we thank everyone who contributed their time or good wishes to the project so far.
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