Time flies when you’re having fun, they say. Seems to be true…somehow the last two months went by in a blur. But now, with the manic frenzy of book publication, Doggitude Kickstarter rewards shipping, and holiday stuff over with, I am beginning to plan my 2013 work.

The trick is to balance creating new work with promoting existing work and finding ways to reach more people. That’s not always easy but I find it helps to start with the big picture. So I sat down with a “2013 Projects” visual journal and started emptying my brain out onto its pages.

None of these things are set in stone or even well thought out. That’s what the journal is for. Over the next couple of weeks, I’ll devote a page or more to each one of the items on that initial journal page (plus any others that occur to me). On those pages, I will explore individual goals or ideas in excruciating detail–documenting pros, cons, challenges, realities, and more. By the time I do that, I will be able to wrap my brain around what is reasonable and doable in 2013. So by the end of January, I should have a fairly detailed plan in place…not only for 2013 but into the first quarter of 2014.

Of course, I should have done this in, oh, November. But I was a little busy then, haha. Better late than never, right?

Anyway, once I get a plan in place, there will be lots to blog about. Meanwhile even without having a plan for the new year, I have 8 or 9 commissions in the queue, serious inquiries for a few more, and two local book signings in the works.

Something tells me 2013 is going to be BUSY! And no doubt it will end up veering significantly from my plan. That’s okay…a plan is just a roadmap…a way to get your bearings and begin a journey while keeping goals in sight. If productive side paths reveal themselves along the way, it only makes sense to cheerfully welcome and explore them. It’s all part of the adventure of living a creative life!