{"id":2688,"date":"2020-12-31T09:56:44","date_gmt":"2020-12-31T15:56:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bookofdreams.us\/?p=2688"},"modified":"2020-12-31T09:56:44","modified_gmt":"2020-12-31T15:56:44","slug":"book-of-dreams-mars-d-gill-newsletter-dec-31-2020","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bookofdreams.us\/2020\/12\/book-of-dreams-mars-d-gill-newsletter-dec-31-2020\/","title":{"rendered":"Book of Dreams (Mars D. Gill) Newsletter – Dec 31, 2020"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Notable Dates<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jan 31, 2021<\/strong>
Land of Dreams Announcement
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Land of Dreams<\/em> sneak peek<\/a>. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gentle Reminder<\/strong>
For my blogs and newsletters, click on the follow button here at www.bookofdreams.us.<\/a> and subscribe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Books<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

LETTERS FROM THE QUEEN<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\nNOOK<\/span><\/a>\n\nSmashwords<\/span><\/a>\n\n\n

Amazon<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Mars D. Gill News<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The magic of a New Year comes with a promise to start a new journey, write a different story, and change our trajectories. It’s a reset to bad habits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I find myself pondering the secrets of life and reflecting on 2020–when our lives screeched to a halt, when we disagreed loudly and passionately.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And how did it all begin?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We spent New Years\u2019 in Cancun with my sister\u2019s family. I learned in 2020 that I had aged. The realization wasn\u2019t gradual: it was abrupt. That leads me to my <\/em>lesson number one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. Health is Wealth<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I fell sick in Cancun. Again, when we traveled to Montana. Then, when we visited Pennsylvania\u2014the typical viral infections. The awareness that I hadn\u2019t taken one vacation where I hadn\u2019t fallen sick perturbed me. Working from home further exacerbated my neck. So I\u2019m popping vitamins to increase immunity. By the year-end, my local gym had adapted to COVID-19 and posted exercise videos online. We are hitting the living room floor now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2021 resolution #1: Next vacation, I will avoid even a runny nose.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

After we returned from Cancun, two birthday parties took the reins of my life: for my littlest and my oldest, who was plunging into double digits in March with an overly-planned Harry-Potter-themed family affair.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On February 29, 2020, I didn\u2019t realize I had hosted the year\u2019s last birthday party at my home over home-cooked food and the movie Frozen 2. It\u2019s a fond memory in hindsight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By March, the stores ran out of toilet papers. I called the BIG March party invitees, assuring them hand sanitizers would be abundant, etc. A few days later, I canceled the party as schools shut down, too. Mischief managed.<\/em> Reality started to sink in that the pandemic was real. Our lives were to be changed by an invisible, barely alive virus. Lesson number two:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. The Most Important Human Need is Love<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A state of perpetual search gripped me two months into the lockdown, as though something critical went missing from my life, not present at home. I had to venture out for it. Same time, something else was transpiring.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We played Hangman, Pictionary and board games to kill time. For the canceled party, we put the banquet hall decorations inside our home. My son video called with classmates, friends, and family\u2014doing everything one did when they were happy and celebrating. It\u2019s impossible to halt life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first warm May weekend, we drove to the Mississippi River. We were together with those we loved the most. Nothing else mattered in life. COVID-19 was a skilled master. It revealed who we loved, who loved us, and who didn\u2019t. Lucky were we to be together in love\u2014the most fundamental of all human needs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2021 resolution #2: Never take people who love me for granted. Not for one second.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Lesson Number three:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. Life Doesn\u2019t Stop<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

My heart aches for those who lost loved ones this year. Because the material items like restaurants, stores are recoverable. But life itself isn\u2019t.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our lives modified. Gigantic cross-country road trip became a single-destination quarantine in a rental. We carried out food.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Memories kept forming. Goals kept beaconing. And then . . .<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I self-published my debut novel in May, a milestone in the life of a novice. The lockdown enabled me, not hindered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n