On The Occasion of My Birthday
On The Occasion of My Birthday
Looking Back, Looking Forward
Looking Back, Looking Forward
Today is my birthday, and no, I’m not telling you which one. Suffice it to say that I’m older than many (most?) of the people who write on Medium.
It’s my habit to look back over the year since my last birthday, and journal some about it. I’m lucky that my birthday falls at the halfway point of the year, so it’s a good time to review. (And summer is the best time to have a birthday when you are a kid, for sure. You get to celebrate all day long! No pesky school to dork things up.)
So I thought I’d take a look at what’s worked and what hasn’t for me over the past year.
Brief aside
I miss my old blog. (You can read over a thousand articles about writing on it here.) I rarely write on it anymore, though, because the audience has moved elsewhere — onto social media and here, on Medium. Which is great. But most of the time when I post on Medium I’m conscious of writing an article that will impact others. That will offer writers benefit. And to that end, I generally submit my articles to publications, most often The Book Mechanic, (my fave), and The Writer’s Cooperative, (where I will start a weekly column in September).
Those publications require a less personal approach. And once in awhile I’d like to just connect with readers the way I used to on my old blog — which was a combination of the personal and information on writing. So I’m going to do that by writing a personal post as often as I can, along with my usual submissions to publications. The post will always have something to do with writing, because I believe when you’re a writer, everything in your life has something to do with writing.
I’ll tag these posts The Write Life, which is the name of a publication I hope to start here on Medium. Soon. I have to figure out how to do it first, and I have other priorities at the moment.
Back to my year
Okay, let’s see, how to do this? How about in categories, starting with writing, because, writing.
Writing
I finished the draft of a novel
I wrote a ton of articles on Medium
I wrote and sent a weekly love letter
I wrote a chunk of words on another novel (the one I set aside and have just gone back to)
Enjoyed a week-long writing retreat in Diamond, Oregon with nine other writers
What Didn’t Happen:
I didn’t get a book contract.
I haven’t yet set the Medium world on fire with my posts
Teaching
I taught two workshops in France
Taught a week-long workshop in Astoria, Oregon
Taught multiple day-long workshops and hosted retreats in Portland
Taught a three-day workshop on The Story Writer’s Path at the Sitka Center for Art and Ecology
Gave a presentation on “private teaching” at the Spalding MFA homecoming
Let’s see, what else is there besides writing and teaching…oh yeah:
Health
I lost thirty pounds, gained back five, am in the process of losing again
I got hip replacement surgery! A medical miracle! I can walk without pain!
I quit meditating and started again. Life is better with meditation. Truly!
What Didn’t Happen
Weight loss got stalled, frustratingly
Didn’t get the walking habit ramped up quite as much as I’d like
Finances
I made less money in 2018 but am on track to make quite a bit more in 2019. Progress.
I worried about money less. Somewhat. I think I’d worry about money if I were a billionaire.
What Didn’t Happen
Didn’t create much in the way of passive income
Didn’t make that first million. Geesh!
Travel
Astoria in February
Diamond in March
Louisville in May
Oregon Coast in June
Santa Barbara in June (to see my wonderful friend, the writer Diana Raab)
McMinnville, Oregon in July (just last weekend)
Okay, so that’s enough for now on what happened. What am I looking forward to?
The next 12 months
A month in France in September, teaching, writing, enjoying
A week in Orcas Island in August (I know, out of order, but oh well)
A month in Ceret, France for a writing retreat in March 2020
A couple weeks in England teaching in May 2020 (info coming soon)
A book contract! This is my year, for sure.
And if the above doesn’t happen (which it will), I’ll self publish.
Continued weight loss
Walking more
Meditating regularly
Overall health
I’m sure I’m missing five million things. And it is here at the end of this post that I mention my amazing family and friends, and the incredible life I get to lead because I’ve followed my passion for writing. I truly am blessed. Even if I am old.
Care to share any of your successes this year so far?
Charlotte Rains Dixon is the author of the novel Emma Jean’s Bad Behavior (Vagabondage Press, February 2013), and articles published in magazines such as Vogue Knitting, The Oregonian and Pology, to name only a few, and her short fiction has been published in Somerset Studios, The Trunk and the Santa Fe Writer’s Project. She earned her MFA in creative writing at Spalding University in 2003, and has been teaching and coaching writers ever since, both privately and as an adjunct professor at Middle Tennessee State University’s Write program. She’s been blogging about writing, creativity, and motivation at charlotterainsdixon.com since 2007. She is repped by Erin Niumata at FolioLiterary. Visit her website at charlotterainsdixon.com and her travel site at letsgowrite.com.