Life certainly does play a few tricks on you.

At the very beginning of 2017, I posted about my hopes and plans for the year. I talked about how 2016 had been a bit of a challenging year for a number of reasons, both personally and professionally, and I set out my hopes that 2017 would be a calmer and more peaceful year.

Well, I guess you never know what a new year is going to have in store for you. The first big surprise for 2017 is that I would end up getting a new job.

I’m not going to say too much about this. Generally, I don’t like to spend too much time talking about that side of my life. Partly, it’s for privacy reasons, but mainly because in the end it’s really not all that interesting (and I’d hate to think that I might ever write anything that was less than interesting).

So, anyway, for a bunch of reasons, I now have a new job. As far as I can tell, it’s pretty similar to the old job in a lot of ways. It’s also pretty different from the old job in a lot of other ways. Given that I’ve only just started, it’s going to take me a while to figure out exactly how it matches up.

The most important thing about it is that it’s a fresh start. And that’s really what I wanted for this year. A year to break away from some of the pressures of 2016 and start afresh. It doesn’t mean all the problems from last year are going to disappear but hopefully it’s a big step. And it’s part of a bigger piece. Not only do I have a new job but I’ve also made good progress on a new novel. It’s as if all around me, fresh avenues and vistas are opening up. New paths for me to follow as I try to make the most of what 2017 has to offer.

It’s all pretty new. The new job has only been going for a few days, and 2017 has only been going for a few months. But I feel like I’ve made a good start. Hopefully I’ll keep on moving in the direction I want to go.

Hope your 2017 is also moving forward, and have a good week.