Back in 2017, when I was frustrated that my novel, Waiting at Hayden’s, had not yet been published, and I felt like I’d be an “aspiring author” forever, I went out and bought a planner for 2018.
In it, instead of writing down the plans that I DID have for the year ahead, I wrote down all the plans I WANTED to have.
In the summer, for instance, I wanted my novel to be published. So, I picked a day in July of 2018 and wrote down, “launch party at my parents’ house”!
In September, I wanted to go on a book tour and visit the East Coast so I could check off: “see fall colors in Vermont and New Hampshire,” from my bucket list. I picked the dates of the tour and jotted down a route.
I wanted to have a romantic beach weekend in Charleston, my favorite city in the world, so I starred a weekend for that. In November, I wanted to go to Europe. And in the winter, a writing retreat at the mountain sounded fun.
I put everything down as if the events truly were on tap for 2018. And for that day, I totally believed it.
Then, I forgot about the planner.
Two months ago, I found it again. I was meditating (or attempting to) for the first time in forever, and had an impulse to go downstairs and dig that planner out of storage.
As I flipped through the dusty pages, I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. Just like I’d written down…my novel was published in July. It gave me chills when I saw that my book tour was happening…just like I’d planned. What was even crazier was that the tour was going through every single city I’d written down, ON THE EXACT date I’d written it. I even left two weeks blank in the middle of the tour (and those were the two weeks I ended up being evacuated because of the hurricane and nothing happened). What was still crazier was that in Charleston, on the date I’d circled and written “romantic beach weekend” I actually had one!
And even though I didn’t go to Europe in November, my brother invited me to go with him on a work trip that started on the EXACT SAME DAY I’d written down, “Europe.”
Despite being someone who subscribes to the belief that our thoughts create our reality, I am still baffled at how much this rings true. It makes me think we haven’t even begun to tap into the true power of the human imagination.
With the holidays approaching and the new year right around the corner, consider treating yourself or someone you love to a planner for the year ahead and use it like I did: to start dreaming of the plans you truly want to have!
Also, for my book lovers, if you’re looking for a good story, my favorite author Liane Moriarty’s newest book, Nine Perfect Strangers, hits shelves tomorrow!
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