Neil Gaiman on the New Year

Neil Gaiman has a wonderful blog  that is simply called "Neil Gaiman's Journal".  Now if I simply named my blog "Sonia Fogal's Journal" no one would care and no one would ever visit my site.  But when your name is Neil Gaiman, anything with your name attached to it draws a great amount of attention.  And deservedly so. Among his accomplishments are short fiction, novels (including Stardust, American Gods, Coraline, and The Graveyard Book), comic books (including The Sandman series), graphic novels, audio theatre and films. He has also won numerous awards, including Hugo, Nebula, Bram Stoker, Newberry Medal, and Carnegie Medal in Literature. So when Neil Gaiman speaks writers and millions of readers tend to listen.  

                                      

I was still awake about 2AM on New Year's Day and was curious about his New Year's journal entry. I looked it up and here is what I found:
"It's a New Year and with it comes a fresh opportunity to shape our world. 

So this is my wish, a wish for me as much as it is a wish for you: in the world to come, let us be brave – let us walk into the dark without fear, and step into the unknown with smiles on our faces, even if we're faking them. 


And whatever happens to us, whatever we make, whatever we learn, let us take joy in it. We can find joy in the world if it's joy we're looking for, we can take joy in the act of creation. 


So that is my wish for you, and for me. Bravery and joy". 

What great words for the new year.  We will all walk into the dark this year.  Sometimes we will see it drawing near as we travel the path of our life and sometimes it will seem that we are walking in full light one moment and then are surrounded by darkness the next.  "Fake it until you make it" really does work often.  Making yourself smile when you step into the unknown changes your attitude somehow and that gets you through until you find your way out.  

I absolutely love this - "We can find joy in the world if it's joy we're looking for".  So very true.  Even when the darkness does surround us and even when it takes every fiber of our being to put a smile on our face and persevere, there are many things in which we can find joy if we look.  If we resist the urge to focus on the negative.  I truly believe that sometimes things have to be seen to be believed.  But we have to make ourselves see them.  May we all do this in 2013.  Thank you for your words of wisdom Mr Gaiman.  

Here's to finding joy regardless of what life brings our way in 2013!