There’s really no global significance to January 1– it’s not even universally acknowledged as the start of a new year– but it’s good now and then to take a little time to reflect on things. As a culture, Americans tend to be fairly bad at this (we’re a low albedo nation), but we’ve built two such days into our national calendar– Thanksgiving, for looking back, and New Year’s for looking forward.
(We also use these as occasions for excess, which probably says a lot…)
A year ago, I wrote that “2006 is going to be a hard one to top, for me at least,” but 2007 came pretty close to topping it. Work continued to go well, Kate and I spent a week in the Caribbean and three weeks in Japan, and I sold a book I never would’ve imagined writing a year ago. 2008’s got a tough act to follow, but it’s a little more predictably eventful than 2007 was. I can say with certainty that things will be significantly different around Chateau Steelypips next year at this time, though I couldn’t begin to say exactly what things will be like. I’ve got a general direction in mind, though, and I’ll be working to make it the best that I can.
Best wishes for the new year to all my readers and their families. May 2008 be better than you expect it to be for you and yours.