What a difference a year makes. I spent most of last year consulting. It was lots of one off contracts; small little jobs, often with a political slant. I got a lot of writing done, fairly good writing, I believe done. Much of it was on the blog. I probably tweeted less and didn’t attempt National Novel Writing month. The family dog died. We adopted a new dog. Friends and relatives died.

Then, in October and November, things started getting busy. I wrote a bit for the Bethwood Patch. I haven’t written there for a few weeks, because my new job has been taking up all my attention. After a decade of mostly freelance consulting, I’ve returned to the nine to five in the office routine. I’m still settling in there, and look forward to a lot of writing there.

But looking a little deeper, things haven’t really changed all that much. My writing form may have changed a little. The topics I am focusing on may have changed a little. The predictability of my cashflow may have changed a little, but deep down inside, things really haven’t changed all that much.

Last year, I wrote:

I will try to slow down, to just say no to museum running and trying to live each moment more fully and more lovingly than the previous.

In 2009, I quoted an old Calvinist joke applying it to 2008 saying

What did the Calvinist say when he fell down the stairs?
Thank God, that’s over.

As I tried to find words to frame a resolution for the year, I wrote:

Yes, I would like to make a difference, to somehow help people find their voices and get more involved in the public sphere, yet that boulder seems not to be budging very much.

In 2008, I asked

What are the parallel processes taking place between my family life, the mailing lists that I’m on, blogging communities that I’m part of, and our nation and the world? Is there some sort of master narrative that can be found? Where do dreams and ideas like Social Dreaming fit in?

So, perhaps each succeeding year does not make as much difference as we might think, but is really simply a convenient checkpoint to look at a much bigger story. How did last year fit into the broader story of your life, the life of your community and the life of your world? How will next year fit in?

Will it be a Happy New Year? I sure hope so.