Hello March and re-discovering hidden gems

I am staring at my wall planner and still can't believe that it is March already. Where did February go?Just looked back at my goals for February and I am sad to say I achieved NOT A SINGLE ONE. I don't know what happened to me in February, it's like my motivation and drive shut down big time. However, it's March, a new month and a new beginning so I'll just carry my goals over. So my goals for March are (once again!):

Have an hour of power everyday.
Keep a gratitude journal.
Reply to my emails as soon as I get them.

Actually, I did achieve goal number three as I didn't get many emails and the ones I did get only required one liners in response.

In addition to the above, a new goal for the month of March is:

Start writing again.

This new goal was sparked off by an entry made by fellow blogger Ore (she has the uncanny knack of blogging about stuff that I had just been thinking about) which she titled Yellow Oranges. In it she briefly explores the art of writing. I left a comment on her blog and got some very positive feedback and advice from other commentators. This then set me off thinking - why in the world have I abandoned writing? I used to write poems as well jot (jotting?) down random thoughts and observations. And then suddenly, I just stopped, like the well of creative juices dried up. Keeping this blog has helped a whole lot though as it's re-introduced me to writing again and built up my desire to want to write more and more and more, which I think is a good thing. So I have taken some positive steps and set up a blog solely for my poems and random jottings (see, I took your advice B).

I have started reading Simple Abundance: A Daybook of Comfort and Joy by Sarah Ban Breathnach (see sidebar for a link). The book is described as '... a book of 366 evocative essays , one for every day of your year, written for women who wish to live by their own lights...' I got it as a gift 6 years ago but never quite got into it, I guess because a lot of the things the writer was writing about, I just couldn't relate to - marriage, managing work-life balance, being a mother - but now, oh, how I can so relate to what she is saying. And then I wonder, you mean my life has changed so much in six short (?) years?

I like discovering little gems like these that have been sitting up on my bookshelf gathering dust just waiting to be re-discovered and believe me I've got loads of them. At some point in my life, I went through a period of frantic, almost maniacal, buying of books. I used to go into a bookshop pick up a book - the binding and print get me before the content - read the back and decide yep, that's for me. I'll bring home this new treasure all excited, read one or two pages then pop it on my bookshelf never to be revisited. The following week I'd be doing exactly the same thing. As a result of this habit, I have quite a vast and varied collection of books. So at the start of 2005, I swore I wouldn't buy another book until I had finished the ones I had and by and large, I stuck with it. However, when I now look over my collection of books I notice that each and everyone of my books was bought for a purpose (which I probably wasn't aware of at the time of purchase) and now those purposes are been slowly revealed. And that's how I feel about books, especially non-fiction ones, they arrive in our lives seemly randomly and without purpose but at some point they will meet a specific need. I am so glad I have my little gems waiting for me to pluck them off their perch and give them some good eye contact.

Speaking of buying books (yes, I succumbed), I just ordered two books off Amazon (the only way I buy books these days). Hallelujah, The welcome table and The collected Autobiographies of Maya Angelou both written by Maya herself. I am so looking forward to them arriving, which Amazon tells me will be in the next 4 - 6 weeks.

So...Hello, March!

[self-discovery]