My wife and I ran the Ocean City 5K "First Day" race yesterday. What was so amazing about the race is that there were near 600 people signed up to run on the boardwalk in January and afterward many of them then plunged into the icy ocean. Luckily, the weather was insanely warm being in the 50s. I was down the shore with my family and friends to celebrate the new year and now am back home and have some time to decompress.
For the last 11 days, I've been busy on the home front with the holidays yet I did make some time to sit down and do one of my favorite things: Watch movies. In the past two weeks, I've seen: The Tree of Life, Midnight in Paris, Hugo, Moneyball, The Help, Chipwrecked (I love my kids THAT much) and The Names of Love. I also squeezed in seeing the new Doctor Who Christmas special and a few great episodes of Absolutely Fabulous (one of my favorite all-time TV shows). And when I wasn't watching movies at night, I was reading and reading some more. I started reading END: An Apocalyptic Anthology. One of my stories is published in there but I haven't had time to read the other authors' works. When I didn't feel like reading about the end of the world, I jumped back to reading George R. R. Martin's Storm of Swords.
I didn't get time to play many games (no Magic: The Gathering playing, unfortunately), but I was happy that I had some time to see so many movies. I'm an extremely visual person and just love immersing myself into the imaginations of other people. Out of all the movies and TV shows I saw this week, I'd highly recommend seeing The Help and The Names of Love. I've written a lot about The Tree of Life and how much I loved it, but The Help and The Names of Love are both great flicks that are easily accessible.
I love it when I watch a film and learn something about life while also being entertained. I have to thank my wife for suggesting to watch The Names of Love. I had never heard of it and I try to keep up on French films. Just wasn't on my radar. Same goes for George R. R. Martin's books--they sold millions of copies and I call myself a lover of fantasy writing and I hadn't even heard of them. The challenge in being a writer, working full-time and raising a family is that it's hard to make time to watch films or read. Since there are only 24 hours in a day, my actual reading/watching TV time is pretty minimal. When I'm free, I'm usually writing, talking to other writers on social media or learning all I can about writing and promoting. But it's essential for a writer to make time to read just as it is essential to sit one's butt in the chair and write.
But these past two weeks have been about family and the holidays and fun. Sure, life has been hectic. Yet it's great to make time to watch such great films and read. Now with 2012 upon us, I've started writing my next novel (the sequel to Cinderella's Secret Diary). I have been humbled by the great reviews the book has gotten and the awesome support from readers. Now I need to "sit my butt in chair" and start writing again. The challenge with that is making the time to write. When I write, time needs to be taken away from something else. Most likely it'll be sleep and watching TV that will take the big hits. Yet it also won't be impossible. It'll just take time, patience and discipline.
I wanted to share the picture above from yesterday's run/plunge because it's a great tradition in Ocean City (though I've yet to partake in the plunge part): On the first day of the year, hundreds of people get into their bathing suits to plunge into the ocean on January 1st. Yesterday I saw old and young lined up on the beach. People in costumes and even a few bikinis. At around 2 p.m., a countdown takes place and they all run into the freezing water. Yesterday was a warm day so everyone got lucky, but the symbolism is still there. It's goofy to strip down into your bathing suit in the winter and run into the freezing water. But it's also allows people to show that they'll do something crazy, fun and just plain wacky to prove to themselves that it's okay to be different or to be goofy for a few hours.
For me, I started off 2012 right. I ran the fastest 5K of my life (26:03), have begun writing my next novel and spent time with family and friends. But to get to where I am now in running and writing has taken me years of hard work. I've been running seriously now for more than two years and writing for decades. I've earned degrees, tried new things, failed, succeeded, watched hundreds of movies and read thousands of books--all of this is a continuing process that will (hopefully!) continue as long as I live.
So for me, I'm starting 2012 off with a bang and am headed on the path that I see is best for me. I wish you all a happy New Year and hope you have a blast too!
Happy New Year, Ron! Sounds as if you had a wonderful time of relaxing and enjoying the family over the holidays, too. Wishing you all the best in 2012 with your writing and fitness endeavors.
Posted by: AuthorMEAnders | January 04, 2012 at 09:25 AM
Mindi, thanks so much! I hope all is well with you and that you're having a great 2012 too!
Posted by: Ron | January 04, 2012 at 06:59 PM