Ah, where do I start to talk about beginnings? I suppose, at the beginning...There are many times in life where we have to make a new start. When we begin kindergarten, and then middle school, high-school and then college. We begin anew when we move out into our first apartment, get married, have kids, buy a house. Sometimes a relationship fades and we have to start a new one. Those can be the scariest-yet-most-full-of-possibility moments of all.
And then there are stories. In each of our books there is that daunting Page One. How we tackle or embrace that new beginning depends on so many things; our mood, our enthusiasm for the
new project, clarity (or lack thereof!), and a certain faith in the unknown. But always, there is a desire to move ahead - to sew a new tapestry - to create a new world - for ourselves and others.I usually find myself experiencing a mixture of nervousness, fear, and excitement when I begin a new project. Planting a seed and hoping it will blossom into something beautiful and lasting is an act of faith. Depending on my viewpoint, those blank pages may be a window to emptiness and fear or unimaginable possibility.
What about you? How do you approach new beginnings?
Here is a picture of my newly planted garden. So much beauty, freshness, and potential. A great example of a wonderful New Beginning.
11 comments:
Great post, very up lifting. Thanks for sharing! Cold and rainy here so my new garden is a tab bit water logged. :)
Beginnings are a wonderful chance to create something entirely new and wonderful wild and creative. Glad to hear the hope in your words.
The garden is beautiful. We planted a vegetable one this year. *crossing fingers that it bears veggies*
I was hoping to see that garden - it's every bit as lovely as you said.
New beginnings can scare the dickens out of me. They can also seem like the best thing EVER since Disney. I figured out some time ago that the feeling depended on whether i felt helpless.
Helpless feelings (in my experience) are partly a choice.
If, when faced with a change, we just wail and go, "I don't know what to do it's not faaaair," then we're increasing our helplessness. Instead...we must say, "I will learn how to do this and do this well," and then get to work.
Maybe this involves prayer, or research, or just talking to people who've been through similar things. Mostly, though? It means tackling it head-on like Alice and the Jabberwocky in the new Wonderland movie, armor and all.
And yes. When we tackle our challenges, we *do* look that spectacularly badass.
But keep in mind you'll probably rewrite the beginning, so push through and get on with the story. Chances are your chapter one is going to change by the time the book is finished. :0)So you'll have many new beginnings.
Beginning a new story is quite similar to beginning a garden - you've got to get your hands dirty. Sometimes your plans don't work out and you have to go back and start over. I like starting; it's the finishing and walking away that causes me grief.
I love starting, but I have to push myself through the middle. LOL But, it is a mixture of fear and excitement. Fear that it's not going to shape into anything... (I'm a horrible pantster).
Great post, thank you!
New beginnings can be daunting because they're often thrust upon us, rather than chosen. Even when we choose it, there's so much inertia to overcome to get a new thing going that it can become overwhelming. In the Taoist view, life is a cycle of birth, growth, maturity, decline and death - which circles back to birth. This means that to start a new thing, you have to let the old thing die, or kill it off. Yet they rise out of the ashes of the old.
When I'm having a hard time beginning a new thing? I kill off the old thing. It's remarkable what that releases.
Best of luck, sweetie!
New Beginnings? Is that like changing my underwear? Or maybe starting to actually WEAR underwear? Hmmm... So much to consider.....
Kathi, Elspeth I couldn't agree more. My first chapter not only is terrible but doesn't fit with where my MC has taken me on our journey.
Now chapter one is much harder, it has to fit with the ending!
Embrace your new beginning Debra, you never know where it will lead you.
Love the garden!! We have our veggies going again this year, love to see that new growth as they begin.
And that new writing idea is always the best part, because it's like meeting a new love...infatuation and excitement and your stomach gets all tingly and you can't catch your breath and you are convinced it's the most fantastic thing in the world!
Hi, everyone (waves). Thanks for the comments. I try to answer everyone, but life's been a bit strange lately. I promise I'm reading and appreciating all comments. You guys are ridiculously entertaining. Much appreciated. ;-)
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