A New Year Brings New Discoveries

At the end of each year, I feel this need to get truly productive. Clear my desk of all the projects I promised myself I’d finish before a new year greeted me. And usually, I’m successful at getting a few projects off my pile, but there are inevitably many more unfinished stories, memories, tidbits, and imaginings I fail to really follow. Then, when that clock strikes twelve, wherever I am in the world, I’m always ready, willing, and excited to abandon that past year’s thoughts and stories, in search of something fresh and new. Eager for discovery.

                                  

That’s the best part of the writing process, right? That journey of discovery? The scavenging and collecting of curious ideas, peculiar characters, and unforgettable moments—pebbles that can be the beginning, middle, or final piece in a story’s journey? That perfect combination of ideas.

 

So, like for many, it is no surprise that at the beginning of each year, I feel a pressure to start something new. To discover. To wipe the slate clean, and create something from nothing. To spare my easer and avoid a revision game of musical chairs with my words. In January, February, and even March, I’m always ready to fill, real and imagined jars, notebooks and boxes. Collecting from any and everywhere—feelings, colors, smells, sights, sounds, experiences. Every space, moment, and idea, a potential for story and discovery. 

                                 

But why do I rarely look back in these first months of the year? Why do I never try and rearrange some of the curiosities collected in my past? The snippets that once got me excited are often abandoned so quickly just because another year has come. Who says we shouldn’t revisit old ideas in search of new ones at the beginning of each year?

 

No one!

 

So this year, instead of starting with a truly clean slate, I’ve decided to spend time reading through old notebooks filled with half-baked ideas and doodles, crack open shoeboxes packed with scraps of paper, tickets, gum wrappers and faded receipts, which captured quickly scribbled ideas, words, and moments I was once so desperate to remember and claim. Revisit what made me lean forward, pause, and take note. Explore and rediscover what once caught my attention, imagination, and curiosity, possibly mingling an old idea with a fresh discovery. 

                                 

I’m sure I’ll come across many false starts along the way. Not every idea is meant to be realized. But maybe, just maybe some are meant to keep me searching, giving just enough for new discovery. Each hour of each day, we gain more information, and hopefully more possibilities. New can also come from old, so let’s not discard or give up on ideas that once gave us a flicker of excitement. There may be something undiscovered there, waiting and ready to be collected and told this year. 

 

Guest Blogger: Leah Henderson

                                        

Leah Henderson is an author, mentor, and avid traveler. Her books include Daddy Speaks Love, A Day For Rememberin’, Together We March and The Magic in Changing Your Stars, a SCBWI Golden Kite Finalist. When Leah isn’t writing or teaching, she is traveling in search of discovery and story.