Excitement and gratitude in the new year

“Enter this new year with a gratitude for this new chance to create your dreams.” Avina Celeste

There’s something about the passing of one year and the beginning of another that sparks excitement for me, like turning the page in a book, anticipating the next chapter. And this year will have new beginnings, opportunities, and challenges, which I look forward to with wonder and delight.

But before I dive into that, I’d like to share our New Year’s Day tradition. My husband and I take a beach walk to reflect upon the past year. As we talked yesterday, we concluded 2021 was pretty spectacular, despite COVID restrictions. Our trips to Jamaica, Oregon, Santa Cruz, and Mammoth were highlights. My husband and his 18-year-old son had an epic backcountry trip. I wrote a book and immersed myself in a writing community. He continues to work with guys in recovery and one of his sponsees now sponsors another guy, making my husband a grand sponsor. I dared to quit my job and return to full-time consulting and follow my passion.

As we compared our 2021 list to previous years, there were very few lowlights, for which we are truly grateful. While we try to use our experiences, good and bad, to learn and grow, not having so many challenging times is a welcome reprieve.

If you’d like to do some intentional reflection, here are the questions that started our conversation (courtesy of Marie Forleo, author of Everything is Figureoutable, one of the best non-fiction books on creating a life you love.)

• What am I most proud of? What was my most important accomplishment, and why?
• What was my biggest lesson? Why was that important?
• What am I ready to let go of?

As I write this post, I am looking toward my first Monday as a full-time consultant in over 15 years. My eBook is on pre-sale and the paperback will be available for pre-sale soon. The book publishes February 1 and I’m planning a launch in the ever-changing COVID environment. And, I’m mulling over a word of the year.

I’ve chosen enrich, HEALthy, adventure, trust, be, opportunity, hope, and gratitude in the past. This year, I’m looking for a word that captures the openness to being multipassionate while maintaining capacity when new opportunities arise. I’m thinking about words like wonder, attentive, discovery, and open-hearted.

Have you ever chosen a word for the year? Do you have one this year? If so, I’d love to hear what it is and why you chose it.

Finally, I could use your help in two areas:

Sharing the Hope of Off-Script: • I am looking to do the book launch on February 12 or 13 and am open to other events after that time. If you have contacts at a bookstore or coffee shop that might host an event, please pass them along.

• I’m looking for ways to share the hope my book offers, specifically to women with special needs children and parents of teens with mental health issues. Are you involved with or know of any groups I could speak to, write for, or share with (in person or via Zoom)?

Multipassionate Work: I’m writing on various topics—my author journey, special needs parenting, relationships in recovery—and am looking for blogs or websites open to guest content. If you have thoughts, please email me at valerie@valeriecantella.com). (This month, I’m specifically looking to pitch an article to a reputable recovery website/blog/magazine. Any ideas?)

Thanks for your support. Happy New Year!