My Word Is PEACE @NanReinhardt

My word for 2018 is PEACE. Just that one word. I don't have a long list of others, even though I do have a long list of things that need to be done this year. Not the least is writing two books for Tule Publishing. I also need to garner enough editing gigs to keep me in health insurance, the cost of which went up so much for 2018 that I nearly had a heart attack when I signed up. I suppose that would've been a fitting way to begin using it, eh?

I want to spend time with Grandboy and my kids, who live just twenty miles away now instead of two thousand. Husband and I continue to be in awe that getting to them now requires a simple 30-minute drive instead of an entire day on crowded airplanes and in busy airports. We are so blessed!

I need to keep up my social media presence with blog posts and sharing interesting things on Facebook and Twitter and Instagram. You know, it's hard to find interesting things to share on Instagram when you don't have little ones around constantly to snap pictures of and each day is pretty much the same as the one before. I need to continue to promote the Women of Willow Bay--to keep my name out there in front of readers and find new readers. And I need to write.

 I need to swim at least three days a week to keep my knees and hips lubricated, and I need to write. Have I mentioned that I need to write? Not just the novels, but on my own blog and here and the occasional guest post on Romance University and other such writing websites. I should seriously think about getting a newsletter started, although  I have to be honest, I don't have a clue how to begin. And seriously, how many people really read the newsletters they get in their inboxes? I subscribe to probably twenty and I confess, I read maybe four or five of them.

Doesn't sound all that peaceful does it? Well, here's how I am going to work for peace in my life. First of all, I'm going to get up every morning and write before I do anything else--I've already started this and it's dang hard some mornings, but I'm always glad once I get into my office and begin writing. The key is not to do anything else before I write except pee and put on the ratty sweater that serves as my robe and my bunny slippers. No email, no Facebook, no NPR news, no coffee . . . nothing. Just sit down and write for at least an hour. When that's done, I can move on with my day, which I'm making more organized, I hope.

On Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings, I'm hitting the pool after breakfast because it's hard to feel at peace when you hurt. Working out in the water eases my joint pain and soothes my soul. It's a deal breaker.  Also, unless I'm on a radically rushed deadline, I'm going to stop work at five p.m. every day, have supper and wine and conversation with Husband. I'm looking forward to spending time at the lake when summer rolls around, but I'm quite content to enjoy winter evenings by the fire with Husband, Acorn TV, and my Kindle or my knitting--which is another thing that needs to get done very soon. I'm knitting a blanket for my new great-nephew, Asher, who is a cutie pie. Knitting is good for creating peace, plus when you're done you have a blanket or a scarf or dishrag or a sweater. Ta-da!

So PEACE--that's what 2018 is going to be about for me, well at least as far as I can manage it. No big changes and no radical life choices--nothing more stressful than picking out a new sofa-sleeper for the cottage or new shutters for the city house. No decisions more significant than what wine we're going to open each night or where Liz and I are going on retreat. I'm going to release all the situations in my life that I can't control, all the stuff that keeps coming back to make me crazy, and all the people who play havoc with my serenity.

Anyone else seeking a quieter, simpler life this year? Talk to me. How are you going to find peace in 2018?

~Nan~