For many of us, 2014 started with a bang and a wallop – and I’m talking UK weather here, not drunken fisticuffs. For me the actual festivities were laid back and low-key, despite having to drive home the next day in hurricane-style winds with a hangover. Not. Recommended. Still, now that the year is officially back to being blah, I’ve spent the last week contemplating the year that was and setting my intentions for the next twelve months. I’ve done this with an empty oil drum and a book of matches.
And no, I haven’t lost the plot or turned into a pyromaniac! I’ve spent the last 6 weeks gutting my renovation project and taking the ancient plaster and lathe walls back to brick. Seven skips later, I’ve been disposing of the wooden battens used by the Victorian builders who constructed the place. Extreme renovation makes you unsentimental about ‘stuff’ – faced with a house that resembles an empty shell, I’m pretty sanguine about what I want to keep and what I want to dispose of.
Which brings me to my resolutions for 2014. Apparently this is the Chinese Year of the Horse. And I’m a Fire Horse, which makes me someone who ‘loves action and excitement in life and will rarely be quiet’ according to the Feng Shui site I googled...Well, no surprises there, then. So, will I burn with passion this year? Or will my lovelife continue to resemble a damp squib? Will my career ignite like a roman candle, or like Comet Holmes, will I just keep getting half a million times brighter on my way to becoming the biggest object in the universe? Frankly, I have no idea. What I do know is this…
- I won’t keep hold of things (emotions, situations, stuff) that no longer work. Those dead horses were flogged and are well on their way to the glue factory, my friend!
- I won’t accept second-best. Not for myself, or those I hold dear. No. No-way. Nada.
- I will love the people who matter and who’ve been there for me in dark times and good. Whole-heartedly and without judgement – although in the case of gentlemen admirers, probably with a bit of caution and a condom, since my horoscope also mentions ‘new arrivals’ and ‘unreliable boyfriends’.
- I will tackle my goals and to-do list with fire and energy. Passion is great, but without action, ultimately nothing. And yes…I will put away the matches!
And finally… I will wish my friends, family and readers of this blog, a 2014 filled with brightness, gladness and all good things. Happy New Year!
Pier Point 