I like New Year’s Day for the same reason I like early mornings and Monday might be my favorite day of the week (now that I don’t work in an office) and I can’t wait until I get to start a fresh journal and I’m addicted to making to-do lists…I love a new beginning. I love starting over.

I didn’t know where I was going. If anything, I was determined to get myself lost so I could get better at knowing where I was. I thought the more often I tried to get myself lost, the less often I would feel lost.

“Does it feel real yet?” “I think so?” I scanned my much emptier home. One stack of boxes sat in the furthest corner, the other behind me. I had been in this house for seven years now, which in the time of typical early-to-mid-20’s apartment hopping felt like a lifetime.

I am not the only blonde or funny or curvaceous or tall escort. But I am the only Anna Carter. In this regard, the only competition would be like…if a hotter, funnier future-me came to the present. And while I do keep getting hotter and funnier with every passing moment, I regret to inform you that you’re stuck with my current, present form.

Giving gifts has always been my most cherished method through which I express love and care for other people. There’s a lot of reasons why, but at the end of December I finally put my finger on it.

And when I was in positions like the ones I mentioned above, people helped. They might not have a lot either. But they helped because they care about you specifically or they care about people in general or they just understand what it’s like to feel totally helpless…and then have someone help.

Three different blog post ideas had been circling my brain for the past couple of months. None of them had coalesced into anything, but this morning I had a thought while I was making my coffee – they’re all the same thing. I’ll explain.

I feel like I used to fight time. That sounds kind of silly, but I believe we all have. We want time to be linear, to be structured, to be logical, to be what we want. But look at your life. You don’t plan for some of the best stuff that’s happened just like you can’t plan for misfortune.

Contrary to what some people tell you, you can’t just change your attitude and be peaceful all the time. I like to think of peace like a flower or a plant. If you want certain results: flowers to bloom, new leaves to unfurl – you cultivate an environment where it can flourish. Copious amounts of patience and tending are required.

Hostesses have to do this incredible Calculus that I cannot describe where you are having to estimate how long it will take someone to eat dinner. Factors that come into play –