January 2009
WORDPLAY
Official JOAN REEVES WEBSITE Newsletter
"I can't write 5 words but that I change 7." Dorothy Parker, Writers at Work, 1958.
Volume 8 No. 01
"The difference between transformation by accident and transformation by a system is like the difference between lightning and a lamp. Both give illumination, but one is dangerous and unreliable, while the other is relatively safe, directed, available." ~Marilyn Ferguson, The Aquarian Conspiracy, 1980.
Happy New Year! Today is the first day of the rest of - well, the year I suppose. I hope it's a fabulous year for you. I plan on it being one for me.
IN THE NEWS
By the way, if any of you out there have websites or blogs and would like to exchange links, just let me know. Send me an email at joan @ joanreeves.com with REAL LIVE PERSON - LINK EXCHANGE in the subject box.
Last month the serialized novella MOONLIGHT ON SNOW: A LOVE STORY on http://www.romantic4ever.com concluded with a happy ever after, of course, for Haley and Jeff. I hope you enjoyed the romantic comedy. If you did, send me an email and let the site know also.
In February 2009, THE TROUBLE WITH LOVE, a new romantic comedy will begin with a chapter published each month until the story concludes in what I think is one of the funniest scenes I've every written.
Hey, put a smile on my mom's face and buy her book! MEMORY LANE: MY SENTIMENTAL JOURNEY can be purchased from her page on the publisher's website at www.createspace.com/3360102 or on Amazon at http://tinyurl.com/5jegwp.
More information on her book can be found on any page of this website and on my blogs and my mom's blog, (http://VisitMemoryLane.blogspot.com) Visit Memory Lane.
WHAT'S NEW ON THE WEBSITE?
GREETINGS: Note for January with a general overview of the monthly update.
THE PLEASURE OF READING features an Interview with freelance writer and aspiring novelist Lisa Haselton.
THE JOY OF WRITING feature article: MAKE THE INTERNET WORK FOR YOU: BLOG BASICS will help you with your web presence.
WORDPLAY: Ah, yes, this newsletter that you are reading has BLAME IT ON THE ROMANS, A Very Short History of New Year Resolutions just for subscribers. Share the info and tell a friend.
Starting in February, one issue of WORDPLAY will be removed each time the website is updated to make room for the new ones. February 1 will see the deletion of the January 2008 issue of WORDPLAY.
THE ARCHIVES: An article usually appears on its originating page for two months. After that it's moved to The Archives.
With the February 1 update, all the 2006 articles will be removed. If there's one you want, print it now.
WORK IN PROGRESS: 1 of 12 for 2009: a brief list of my goals for the new year. I'm making myself accountable to you this next year. Who will you be accountable to for your goals?
Previously Published: Feature Article: THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX and the entire series KEEPING AND USING YOUR RIGHTS remain in place. The cover of my most recent large print book MOST WANTED is shown. The book is an example of my following my own advice.
WRITTEN WISDOM: January's theme is Change. Look for quotations from Jane Austen, Christina Baldwin, Gail Sheehy, Elizabeth Janeway, Ursula K. LeGuin, Mignon McLaughlin, and Edith Nesbitt.
Epitaph on Mel Blanc's tombstone: "That's all, folks."
------------------------------
LET ME ENTERTAIN YOU
BLAME IT ON THE ROMANS
A Very Short History of New Year Resolutions
Some people write resolutions. Some don't. Some like the idea of setting down goals for the New Year, and others feel doomed to failure before they start. Comediennes joke that a list of resolutions is a list of things you'll never do.
Whatever you may think about New Year's Resolutions, you probably wonder who started the tradition. Actually, there's little history to explain an almost universal ritual. We do know that New Year's is the oldest celebrated holiday. It dates back 4,000 years to the ancient Babylonians who feasted and otherwise celebrated for 11 straight days.
Just about all of the history on New Year Resolutions attribute the practice to the Romans. Supposedly, in 153 BC, they placed an image of Janus, the god of beginnings and the guard of doorways or entrances, at the head of the calendar. Yes, that's why the first month of the Julian calendar is called January. derived.
Janus was a two-faced god who could look back on the past events and forward to the future all at the same time so he became the symbol for the new year. Romans celebrated Janus and looked for forgiveness from their enemies of the past and looked forward to the future by exchanging gifts before the beginning of each new year, and, one supposes, made resolutions for new beginnings.
Of course, two thousand years ago, the New Year didn't begin on January 1. Even in our modern world, not every country marks January 1 as the first day of the new year. In 46 B.C., January 1 became the beginning of the New Year because Julius Caesar developed a calendar that more accurately reflected the seasons than previous calendars had.
As you probably can guess, the most popular resolutions in the western world are: stop smoking, stop excessive drinking of alcohol, lose weight, save more money, and get physically fit. In a recent study on resolutions, more than 50% of the participants were confident they could achieve their goals. However, only 12% actually achieved success.
Interestingly enough, men achieved their goal 22% more often when they engaged in goal setting, a system of small measurable goals i.e. lose a pound a week, rather than just writing a resolution to lose weight. This didn't work for women, but women succeeded 10% more often when they made their goals public and got support from their friends.
Whether you're for or against the practice of writing resolutions at the beginning of the year, I encourage you to set goals. I always think of goals as a road map. Without a map, you'll travel a road, but who knows where it may go.
Happy New Year!
---------------------------
"That's all there is, there isn't any more." Ethel Barrymore, curtain call in 1904.
