Happy New Year

Happy New Year

Sometimes you need to write about what is in front of you. It’s a cliché to talk about successes, disappointments and hopes this time of year, but when you sit in front of a computer on December 31, the temptation is great.

Before even talking about successes of the past year, it might be useful to reflect on what success really means. The easy way to talk about success is to deal in concepts that can easily be measured.

Perhaps the simplest example of this is wealth. It is simple for us to quantify how much money we accumulated over the past year. For many people the greatest and perhaps only accomplishment they feel worth considering is how much money they have made.

Power is a bit like money. Wealth is easier to guage, but there are similarities. Accumulating money and power are both about getting something for yourself. They are about putting yourself above other people. To be wealthy or to be powerful means having more wealth or power than those around us.

Less self centered and superficial measures of success are happiness and quality.

The enlightened Asian nation of Bhutan decided some years ago to measure it’s success by “gross domestic happiness” rather that “gross domestic product.” The rulers of Bhutan decided that happiness was a better indication of success than wealth or power.

The Dali Lama has suggested that the goal of existence is happiness. After saying this, he goes on to explain that real happiness isn’t just a matter of making yourself comfortable. True happiness can only occur when we treat others well.

This kind of happiness, a deep inner satisfaction that you have been a good person, is certainly a worthy goal in life. The gratification that comes from just accumulating things does not give true happiness.

When we look back at a year that is quickly passing, it is worth asking ourselves if we have been happy and if we have made others happy. If we can answer yes to these questions, it is reasonable to conclude that we have been successful.

The other measure of success that I think is worthwhile considering is quality.

Quality is a slippery word. What does it mean to have a life that contains or makes quality? A simple definition of quality is “the degree of excellence of something.” Of course, we could head down a rabbit hole by wondering what excellence means.

If we take the ideas of happiness and quality and apply it to the life of a writer, there are some conclusions we might arrive at. As writers, we might suggest that we have been successful if our writing is quality work and results in happiness.

It is difficult to clearly define quality writing, but in the end much of the answer lies in the writer being really satisfied with his or her work. Of course, we can be deluded, but satisfaction is a good start.

Writing should make both the writer and reader happy. Again, the happiness that comes from a quality book isn’t simple. A book with a happy ending isn’t the same thing as a book that gives the reader a real and deep happiness. This more complex happiness may even come from reading a book that is essentially sad.

If we look for measures of success for a writer, we need to stay away from superficial quantifications like books published, units sold, and money made. These are important in the life of any author, but they are not true indications of real and profound success.

It is my sincere wish for everyone that you can look back on twelve months of real happiness and quality and that your success continues next year.