New Year
I had one of Those Moments a couple of days ago. You know what I’m on about… a brief yet intense rush of happiness that swamps your from out of nowhere, driving away all misgivings and pessimism. You try to hang onto that feeling, because if you could life would never hurt you again. Like deja vu it’s only there for a while, but for those few moments everything is going to be alright.
We’d taken my 5 year old daughter Ellie for a horse riding lesson for her birthday. I thought she may be a it cautious about it all, but she took to it really well, even learning to start & stop, and turn left and right in the space of half an hour. Her horse was called Sam, ‘just like in Lord of the Rings’ she said. At the end the trainer prepared Ellie to trot and then off they went, the little pony Sam trotting along the road with Ellie bouncing around on his back … and the smile on her face was beautiful, her laugh unforced and honest. That’s when it hit me with the force of a shooting star: everything is going to be alright. Whatever the world may throw at us in 2004, there’s still my daughter’s laughter.
I guess it’s a good way to see in a new year. Last year saw the birth of our son Daniel. It hasn’t been an easy time – hey, I’m an old 34 now, I haven’t got the energy I had when Ellie was a baby! – and inevitably I found less and less time to write. But 2004 should change all that.
Change … not something I’m used to. I’ve been in a paid job since I left school at 18 – never been out of work, not even a day. Somehow over the last few years I’ve found time for this job, family life and writing the odd book or two as well. So come April 1st this year – when my salary is cut in half and I embark on a career as a professional writer – I’m heading into unknown territory. It’s exciting and a little bit scary, having to rely on my writing income at last, but I’m still at that stage when I can try it without thinking ‘I wish I’d done this sooner’. There are risks, but then life is one big risk. I’m looking upon it as an adventure.
Happy New Year to you (however many of you there are!). I hope 2004 is everything you want, and above all, I hope it’s more peaceful for us all.
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