New Year: why so much excitement?

Happy New Year! Parties, e-cards, toasts... why all the excitement? It is all encompassed by the word "new." We love "new." We can forget about the "old" and, for a moment, envision "better." Why is a new day, a new month not as exciting? Imagine awakening to a world that appreciates EVERY NEW DAY! Happy New Day... 24 hours of NEW breath, new opportunities, new thinking, new energy. An entire day belonging to each individual, allowing us to make the most of it if we so wish. We can choose to make it the best day ever... Not HUGE choices like at New Year, but tiny little ones: I can smile at strangers, I can think new and different thoughts and explore them, I can put positive effort in to my work, I can appreciate the fact that I breathe freely, I can listen to new music, I can help someone just for the fun of it, I can try to see people I know from different angles and maybe find more attributes in them to make me feel good... Every single day I have the power to fashion the day as I will. Tomorrow is promised to no one, but TODAY is yours! Make it the BEST... and if you are given yet another day tomorrow, make it even better.
Here is wishing you all a wonderful day and a wonderful 2010.

Anti

While writing "An Apricot Tree in Africa," I thought I was writing a coming-of-age narrative. A reader pointed out that it was a book fighting for human rights. Thinking about this statement, I have to concede that there is a lot of truth to it. My brain appears to be wired in such a way, that it is difficult for me to comprehend any "anti."
Of course I feel revulsion for all perpetrators of violence against blameless humans, but the hatred for "the other," the blind following of "statements of fact," (the Jews killed Jesus) or following delusional or political or power-hungry people, I cannot come to terms with.
In the South Africa I grew up in, Africans were considered stupid and lazy, yet they were trusted with bringing up the white children, keeping the houses of the whites clean and shining, cooking, laundry and all and any tasks that came to mind. The Africans were not allowed to sit on a chair in the houses of the white people; they sat on the floor.
The Jews were not allowed to join golf clubs. The "colored" people had their own transport, as they were forbidden to ride on buses meant for the white population. If people find all these "laws" acceptable, I remain the odd man out.

I have been running around the internet and I am exhausted! I have been visiting blogs of authors, book marketing blogs, and any blog to do with writing... Enough! I need a holiday. I came across an "unrelated to literature and its myriad convolutions" blog, which I thought was eye-opening, and wanted to share with you:
www.haifadiarist.blogspot.com.

My novel is now in the hands of an editor and instead of agonizing over how much of it is going to be left intact, I have decided to plot the next one. This is great fun! Living in one's imagination and creating a plot and characters allows me to forget the laundry (which is now living a life of its own), forget to eat (which in my case is positive), and to forget... oh shucks! Yeah, I'd better get going on the NB part of my to-do list!

Have you read the book The Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell? He also wrote The Tipping Point and Blink. In The Outliers, Gladwell provides a view of successful people from such a surprising angle, that I was totally immersed in his point-by-point explanation. He makes a lot of sense, and I especially found the "Matthew Effect"(For unto everyone that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance. But from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath." - Matthew 25:29) to be a brilliant line of thought.
Gladwell goes on to show that really successful people have around 10,000 hours of hard work or practice at what they do, before becoming "known". If we take only the "Matthew Effect" and the "Ten Thousand Hour Rule" (from the many subjects covered in The Outliers), we see that if we recognize opportunity and then put in the time and effort, we should succeed at what we do.
How do these actions play out in our society of instant gratification? They do not. There are no short cuts; there are no "instant" riches and awards.
We should instill these habits in our children and realize that their futures are at stake.

I bought something in Prague: a pillow! The best pillow I have ever slept on was waiting for me on my bed at the hotel. This is the pillow I would imagine the angels in heaven sleeping on, and now I own one!
Besides magical pillows, Prague envelopes you with centuries of thought, music and physical beauty. Tourists from everywhere and anywhere tread carefully, somehow realizing that history is present in every step. Tourists seem quieter than most other places (except for the Louvre), and Prague is clean...! Thousands of people, day in day out, and the city is clean.
Every city has its own aura: New York is busy, Paris is elegant, Amsterdam is a city of intrigue, London is surprising, Cape Town is breathtaking. Prague is compact and ethereal and quiet and stately and all of this resonates in the eyes of her beholders.
Now we are back home, trying to hold on to that "Prague" feeling, while mopping up the remains of a burst water tank and taking the carpets out to dry and welcoming the plumber with sheepish grins.
So, with a new pillow waiting, I bid you goodnight and good dreams.

Prague... city of inner quiet, cadence of centuries, held captive for the eyes of tourists from everywhere and anywhere, to admire a culture that comes from history books yet holds firm and beautiful today.
Why do we travel when we can see nearly every place in the world on television? Why do we awake at crazy hours and sit in airplanes squashed and uncomfortable and pay hard-earned money to physically be in different places? Look into the hundreds of faces walking the streets of Prague: Korean, Italian, Chinese, Dutch, Russian... they all have the same expression of calm and enjoyment. Forgotten for the moment are the worries of life; the incredible pace of our world today is put aside for a short while to breathe different times and to think of other cultures. It is more than being on vacation; it is belonging to a cleaner spirit, connecting to an ancient past that continues quietly in our frenetic world. It allows us to connect to ourselves; to think important thoughts.
That is what Prague did for me.

Going to Prague until Monday, so see you all when I get back.

Many years ago, in the land of the "I-know-everything" young adult years, I had a big mouth. I verbally stood up for the downtrodden and the exploited, and had an opinion (which had to be heard), on everything. I "knew" so much! Today, I know a little more, but have concluded that less use of my mouth can have better results. More use of the thinking part of my brain has many benefits to myself as well as to those around me. I'm sure you learned this at a much earlier age. But I am slow; very slow.
Now I actually think before I comment, criticize and give advice. The strange outcome of thinking before I open my (big) mouth, is that I am perceived as being more intelligent. I have not capitulated; I have not become a "neuter", nor a wishy-washy person: I still call it as I see it. I just wait for the right time, use a different tone and choose my words carefully.
My mom's favorite saying was "do unto others as you would have them do unto you". Keeping that in mind makes life smile.

What a day to be alive! The day has barely had time to wink at me, and already I have received so many gifts, beautifully wrapped! First gift is that I woke up - incredible, and thanks for that! Second gift is the garden in its green and pink and purple glory. Third gift is that my frozen shoulder is hurting less. Fourth gift is all the promises of an entire day; so exciting, whatever I want to make of it is entirely up to me. Fifth gift is planning who to give attention to; thinking how I can make my favorite people laugh. That one is a HUGE gift.
As I said (call me soppy, not-connected, blind, whatever), a wonderful day of opportunities dependent only on my mind-set. Yes, the world is in a sorry state; yes, people are killing one another everywhere for no reason or for stupid (in my opinion) reasons and millions are starving. What can I do about this? Make this a day to be remembered for as many people as I can.