Here me roar!

Enough of that sad stuff around here ... getting up, dusting off and moving on. OK?

Now, this year is a big year for me. When I graduated from college, ehem, 11 years ago, I had goals. Yes, I had me some very big goals.

My main goal was to write for magazines.

But, to get published in magazines, I needed to have published clips. You know ... that lovely Catch-22 that plagues writers daily around the globe.

So, to get published, I thought I'd try freelancing for my local newspaper. In a meeting with the editor about that he offered me a job. A full-time job. Um, he wasn't even hiring. He saw something in me, he said later.

So, I became a reporter, and a pretty good one at that. I won awards. I climbed the reporting ranks and soon found my way to a bigger newspaper, where I would eventually meet Da!, also a newspaper person. It does take one to know one.

I quickly grew to love reporting and writing and uncovering people's stories. So many of those stories molded me into the person I am today, actually.

They led me to this peak where I stand daily with my personal beliefs on faith, spirituality, humanity, politics, economics, and sociology. To witness the things I did as a young woman, to sit down and grieve along side complete strangers whose relative or friend just died time and again taught me early about what matters most in life. More than the Bible could. More than any self-help book could. More than any preacher could.

I have built a life -- married a man and mothering two daughters -- made of principals built on the shoulders of real human beings who know tragedy, heartbreak, survival, discrimination, fear and contentment. Without those people -- all of them -- I would not be the person I am today.

Trust your marriage. Love. Follow your passions. Live for the here and the now because tomorrow IS NOT guaranteed. For God's sake, do not judge. Do not compare. Accept people's differences. Respect people's personal beliefs. Wear your seat belt. Don't speed. Don't drink and drive. Don't do drugs. Have faith in yourself.

Now, as 2008 calls out to us to start fresh, I will finally see my name in magazines. Not just one. Not just two -- but, a handful or more. These will be small bylines; hardly a blip in the national publishing scene.

But, they will be stepping stones for this next chapter in my life. I can't imagine whose shoulders I will lean on for guidance as I walk this new path.

Tomorrow: My writing resolutions for 2008.



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