The last couple of years, I wasn’t so much tested by fire as thrown into a furnace and tempered by flames. But soldiering on is second nature when there really is no other option in the horizon other than survival. Being a strong believer in metanoia and tabula rasa, both of which offer the sweet promise of a fresh start, I have decided that this year will be my year of writing, my year of focus and change.

I’ve taken a rather long sabbatical from writing—at least in the public domain. In the last few months, I’ve started a business with good friends, begun practicing my calligraphy, taken up crocheting (for the nth time), and started on my first novel.

For the novel, it’s a constantly evolving creature that recreates itself each time I take out the original file.

I have always believed that in writing, nothing is static; you can draft all the outlines you want, but the end result has more to do with how the work wants to be written. I hold on to the philosophy that writers are merely conduits shaping and delivering what already exists—if not in this realm, then in the world of ideas. But the execution is a pain. The story won’t stay still long enough for me to write it. The characters reject each other with startling regularity—so much so that I’m convinced there’s no other way but to write and write quickly, lest the idea makes its hasty exit as so many better ones have done before.

A few weeks ago, I welcomed my 29^th birthday with a list of traits that I wished to improve on this coming year. I have always been a strong advocate for self-improvement but had often lacked the follow-through when it came to these changes. So this year, I will stick to my list and work on being more disciplined, dedicated, persistent, and patient. And while I will not bore anyone else with my lengthy list of goals and plans, I will be more present from this point on. Hopefully, that will be a good thing.

So, that said, let me end this lengthy rambling with my New Year’s wish for all of you. To borrow from Neil Gaiman:

“I hope that in this year to come, you make mistakes. Because if you are making mistakes, then you are making new things, trying new things, learning, living, pushing yourself, changing yourself, changing your world. You’re doing things you’ve never done before, and more importantly, you’re doing something.”

Happy 2015, everyone! See you all soon!