A New Year Has Dawned!

It's a little late but better late than never, eh?

Happy New Year to you. I hope that this will be a year of fruitfulness, joy and learning for you and yours.

The main reason that this post is so late is that I spent the past few days mainly at home, down with some pretty severe food poisoning. I have absolutely no idea what brought it on but it's no way to start the new year.

Nevertheless, it's subsiding and my brain is functioning more normally now so I can type properly.

As a follow-up to my previous post, I decided that my Word of the Year for 2016 will be 'Speak'.

I intend to:

a) Become a true-blue professional Speaker (finally!)

b) Speak for necessary change

c) Speak, not just talk

d) Speak to new contacts and networks

Thinking about my Word of the Year 2016

Having never believed in the premise nor efficacy of new year resolutions, I never made them. As an alternative to this rather banal practice, I came across the idea of having a word to sum up the direction that the coming year should take.

For example, perhaps someone chooses the word "door" for their WotY. It could mean that he/she wishes to explore new opportunities or work towards making new connections in the coming year - the opening of new doors. It could also mean that he/she wants to close the doors to past hurts and negative experiences.

What should my Word of the Year for 2016 be?

Some Thoughts on Christmas

What is Christmas?

It depends on your worldview, the culture you are in and the commercial world around you.

As a typical Singaporean, when you hear the word "Christmas", what comes to your mind? Snow? Reindeer? Christmas trees? Santa Claus? Presents?

All of the above?

In Singapore, go to any shopping centre, hotel or town centre and you see decorations of all sorts, banners of all kinds, and advertisements of all colours. Go to Orchard Road and frenzied shoppers are jostling with each other to get that present that they didn't have enough time to look for earlier, simply forgot to buy, or had to purchase because of some last-minute invitation to a "gift-exchange" party.

Can I take a second here to state how much I abhor mandatory "gift-exchange" parties? The premise of a mandatory exchange of gifts undermines the purpose of a gift - which is given voluntary and done out of love.

To get over the feeling of being forced to get a gift, which incidentally has no target gender or purpose (because what if that feminine face mask pack gets "given" to a man?), guests to such parties buy useless, generic, boring items which many shops are happily advertising for sale.

Nobody goes home with an item they can really use or that they really need or that they really like. The solution? Stop this ridiculous practice!

I think it is safe to say that Christmas is the most commercialised holiday in Singapore, followed closely by Valentine's Day (a future blog post in the making, it seems).

But hang on, what about the Christian community?

Though many Christians take Christmas as a celebration of the birth of our Lord Jesus, a number of biblical scholars have placed His birth day a few months before December. There was also no such celebration in the early church.

Nevertheless, it is always good to gather in His name, share some food and stories, and sing carols. And that is exactly what I'm going to be doing this Christmas!

Projects, projects, projects!

As December draws to a close, it feels more and more urgent to get my major projects of 2015 done speedily so I can work on new ones when 2016 kicks off.

The Introvert Teacher has gone through its first round of editing. Now it's up to me to decide on whether to keep the changes and/or make further ones. I'm also working on its marketing materials, book launch ideas - yes, you are invited ;) - and so on.

Realistically, it might only be out around February or March. Chinese New Year would be great but I'm not entirely sure if it's possible. Let's find out!

My major project for The Gem Hunter is coming to fruition. Without giving too much away, some supplies have come in, while others are yet to be ordered (too much choice makes things tough, doesn't it?).

The original plan was to launch on Christmas week. This is starting to seem difficult but I will try.

Yet another project, the production of my long-dreamt-about gemology curriculum, is going well. Three chapters done, two more to go (unless I switch some things around)! It should be done by January! Just in time for the school year!

Time to get off my rear and make things happen! 2016 approaches!