Year's Demise, Year's Beginning

I debated a long time about what I should say in my New Year's Day post. The fact is, I knew it wouldn't exactly be a happy post if I shared exactly what was on my mind. See, on first thought, the idea of 2014 doesn't really make me happy. At first glance, yesterday, as the hours too quickly ticked on toward midnight, I could see only the endings. Another year gone. More opportunities lost. More dreams dead. More dust. More decay. More despair. Well, I couldn't very well post about that. This is supposed to be a happy blog.

So I started trying to think of all the things I had to look forward to this year, and here were the first things that popped into my head: A trip to Disneyland. Sherlock series 3. Two Marvel movies. How to Train Your Dragon 2. A Barnes & Noble giftcard which I shall soon use to purchase books which I will then read. Why, this year I'll finally read several books I've been meaning to read for a long time.

So then I thought, yeesh, Pearl. Are you looking forward to anything that isn't based around some fictional world?

And then I thought..... no, I don't believe I am. And there's absolutely nothing wrong with that.

I've already talked about this a little in some earlier posts, but I might as well bring it back up. I love fiction because it makes me happy. Reading about the triumphs of characters who technically don't exist but might as well helps me get through bad days. Watching their triumphs play out on screens, accompanied by dazzling visuals and stirring soundtracks, makes me feel even better. Fiction brings on invigorating laughter and cleansing sobs and delighted fangirly shrieks. It causes a feeling of wellness in times of illness and happiness in times of sadness. I ride through life in a haze of stories, those created by others and those created by me, because I cannot imagine how I'd manage any other way. Against all odds, the anticipation of new movies and books and Sherlock and Disneyland have made me excited for 2014.

Welcome to the new year.

It's going to be a great one.

~Pearl Clayton