January is the month for renewal. It signals not only the start of a new year but it provides us with a reminder that we can reinvent ourselves and our life if we so choose.
The month of "January" was named after the Roman God Janus which means beginning and endings. So it's only natural for us to feel that this month is a gateway for new beginnings, transformations and renewals.
Note: The coin to the left is an old Roman coin which pictures the god Janus. Notice Janus is two-faced with one face looking behind and one looking forward.
Our life as a book series
Think of our life as multiple novels in a book series and each novel is a year in our life. Each book contains chapters that represent a month, a week or just days.
As we begin the new year we are starting our next novel. As authors we have a choice to either write them with some preparation and planning or we can just go along for the ride and see where life takes us. We either control the narrative or we let the mood or circumstances guide us.
Think about all the novels you've created so far! Some were amazing! Some were sad or just overall crappy. Some were just so-so. Some ended on a high note and some ended on a not-so-good note. Some were rewarding, exhilarating or just surprising. What word would you describe your story this past year?
Which method do you use to create your life? Are you the spontaneous type where your life is dictated only by your circumstances and what you feel like in the moment? Are you the structured type who has their life planned from start to finish? Or are you somewhere in between? There is no wrong or right way of guiding yourself through life.
What matters most is what you are expecting as the finale of your story. If you have NO goals or expectations than there is no need for an outline of your next story. You can let each chapter unfold spontaneously. If you DO have some goals or expectations, there needs to be some thought and planning to achieve that happy ending.
If you are looking for some control over your storyline:
Ask yourself, "What events, characters and situations do you need to have in your book to get to your perfect ending"
GIve yourself permission to think and outline each chapter before your story gets underway. Who are the characters, i.e. people, you need in your life? What events need to take place? What are the traits, you or your characters, need to exhibit? What situations do you need to avoid or get involved in? Think about all the work that an author does to setup each scene and each character to get you to truly believe and fully immersed in the story. We need to think along those lines as well.
Disclaimer: Life does get in the way, I get that. We may have written the perfect storyline for us but life happens. That's okay. But it's better to have SOME idea as to your final destination so you can adjust accordingly when life DOES happen.
So renewal is not all about starting anew, it's about continuing what we started BUT with plot twists, turns and surprises. I love mystery books and there is always a plot twist that you don't see coming. Our lives are just like that. We can adjust just like the storyline. Who knows? Maybe the plot twist is just what we needed?
If you are looking to truly transform your storyline:
If you truly want to transform, maybe you need to start a NEW book series. Yes, it may be hard work, but only YOU can determine if it's worth it. Writing new books for the same series is comfortable and we could easily do it in our sleep. But do we really want to?
The end is the beginning:
I'm sure we've all read a novel and realized at the end that it's not really the end because the author hints at a future continuation of the storyline. Isn't it exciting to know that the story doesn't really end but it's only a segway into another book? How excited should we be that we are segwaying into a new book, a new year!
Have we been working on our segway? Do we have an outline as to how we want the following year to turn out. What experiences do we want to have? Who and what do we want in our life? Where do we want to end up physically and mentally. Who do we want to be?
To write our novels we need to look within. That starts the process of renewal. 💖