Happy New Year everyone!
Right… so I’ve been missing a while. Wondering what I’ve been up to? Here are the dirty details.
Changing Focus
Those of you who’ve been here a while have seen me go through random phases of isolation, workaholism and insomnia, and bounce back just as quickly. But what many of you may not know is that early 2005 was a bit of a rough time for me.
While I’d just launched an e-book and the sales of it were going really well, I wasn’t feeling too satisfied with the kind of work I was doing. So I went through two more phases—the I’ll-become-an-English-teacher-phase and the I’ll-get-a-graduate-degree phase, both of which were, thankfully, short-lived. However, while quick to come and go, they forced me to sit down and really think about where I wanted to take my career. I realized that health & fitness how-to wasn’t it.
So I finished up all my pending assignments on ridiculous self-imposed deadlines, shoved all incoming work off my desk, and prepared to leap into the unknown.
Looking Back
It’s January 1, 2006 and like everyone else, I’ve been looking back over my shoulder to see what I achieved over the past one year. And I see that it’s been a year of many firsts. I published my first e-book, got my first review, traveled out of Delhi on my first out-of-town assignment, paid off my first (and hopefully last) loan, and missed my first deadline. 
Along with writing for my regular magazines, I broke into twelve new ones, including Women’s Health & Fitness, ePregnancy, CE Lifestyles, Girls’ Life, DIGIT, and the highlight of my career so far, ELLE.
It was also this year, that after three years of publishing Writers Crossing, I decided to shut it down and replace it with this blog and my own personal writing newsletter. The good news: over 7,000 regular readers!
Traveling
My biggest achievement this year though, has been taking a leap. Not only in terms of profession, but in terms of faith.
Last year, after the South Asian tsunami, all I wanted to do was pack up my bags and head down south to the affected areas. For reasons I won’t get into, I didn’t. And that plagued me for a long time. I felt like I hadn’t listened to my heart and this continued to haunt me in several different ways.
Then, as life often does, mine threw me a second chance—to go back to the affected areas and hopefully do something that would make a difference. So in late November, I rounded up a photojournalist and we traveled up and down the Tamil Nadu coast to find stories that would bring about a change—in our readers and in us. It was something we would have done for free, just so that people could see that the need for help was far from over. However, ELLE India decided to buy the story, and it’s going to be published in their January 2006 issue.
I learnt an important lesson: when you follow your heart, everything falls into place on its own.
Moving Forward
Goals for 2006? Only one. Do what makes me happy.
*raises glass*
And this seems like the perfect time to say a huge thank you to everyone who’s reading this.
Thank you for your continuous interest, your constant support, your often hilarious emails and always ego-boosting comments. Your get-the-hell-back-to-blogging notes not only make my day, but help me strive to be better at what I do. I’ve enjoyed sharing my journey with you, and I hope you’ll continue to join me for the ride. My wish for you is that your writing leads you to new and exciting places in 2006.
To a fabulous year ahead! *clink*