Elise Skidmore

It’s that time of year again, out with the old, in with the new. This is the first time I’ve had to think about a New Year’s blog post, and it’s a little daunting. I mean, what can I say that hasn’t been say so many times before? It’s a time when we reflect on the year that’s passed and look forward to the one ahead. Some folks make resolutions, often the same resolutions they made the previous year and never followed through on. Me? I’m not a resolution-maker. Seems pointless. Like everyone else, there are things I’d like to change, and not making promises that are sure to make me feel bad about myself when I don’t keep them seems like a good place to start. The rest we play by ear.

2015 didn’t start well. My youngest daughter was in a very serious accident in January that shook us all to the core. Thankfully, she came out of it alive and without too serious injuries, but it was rough going for a while. The winter in the northeast was brutal and we thought it might never end, but eventually it did, as it always does. There were plenty of good things too: I managed two visits to Florida to see my family, and a trip to Boston to see my eldest daughter and her wife before the fall came back around. Before we knew it Thanksgiving and the Christmas season were upon us and there was more family time to share and, really, isn’t that what having a “good year” is all about? And let’s not forget A DANCE OF DREAMS was released and this website was born!

Those who know me well would tell you I’m an optimist, and they’d be right. But I’m also a realist. I know people are going to let me down and that the world has many problems it may never overcome. Even when things look bleak, I try to find a ray of hope. I know there isn’t a whole lot I can do about it, but I try my best to make the world a better place in whatever small ways I can.

I’ve decided my watch words for 2016 are Try and Hope.

I will try to live healthier, to be smarter, to be kind even when it’s not the easy route, and to procrastinate less. I will try to write more and to make this website a place people will enjoy visiting and will share with friends.

I will hope that if I keep trying to do those things to the best of my ability, I will have made some small difference and the world just a little brighter.

I will hope that somehow the world will find a way to live in peace, that the hate mongering and political insanity that has been so prevalent recently will cease, and that we as human beings will manage to rise to our better natures.

A Very Happy New Year to All!
Remember to keep trying and hold onto hope!

Elise Skidmore
January 1, 2016

PS—I do have one small resolution: I need to remember to write 2016 instead of 2015.