Happy New Year, everyone!

So starts another blank slate. It isn’t quite literally a blank slate, but it is a chance to wipe out those bad memories, dust off those disappointments, and start a new plan of action which includes the things that have been working for you, and letting go of the things that haven’t.

That’s the plan in this freelancer’s office this New Year, and I’m going to be making some changes around here. Some of them will be visible (notice the Google ads on the bottom?), and some are only going to be best practices that work for me.

I’m not big on resolutions, but I do have thoroughly mapped out goals for myself, most of which are too ambitious and will likely not be met. That’s okay. For my personality, I think that works. I like to aim high, push as hard as I can, and see what sticks. It’s great motivation.

The one goal I didn’t meet in 2008 and which I’m thoroughly committed to this year is financial. That, of course, means that I’m going to have to stop being so picky about my stories, and take on some work purely for the money. Hey, in this economy, anything helps.

There’s a lot coming up this year that I’m looking forward to– travel to more new countries, incredible work and growth, another semester of learning at Berkeley, and finally, after I leave Berkeley, time to base myself in a new city for a much longer period this time. Or what my mom calls “settling down.”

The plans have been made, the goals have been put in writing, the New Year’s resolutions already broken, and now it’s time to get back to work.

I’ll be posting daily again from tomorrow. Here’s to a wonderful New Year. *clink*

I’m on holiday from tomorrow , so posts are going to be erratic until the new year. A few things I want to mention:

* The puppy found a home! Thanks to everyone who sent me e-mails, links and contacts. A special shout-out to fellow journalist Ms. B. Sen for going that extra mile. You rock!

* I’m skipping my usual what-I-achieved-this-year post. I have certainly achieved a lot this year, including one of my lifetime goals of getting published in Time magazine (next piece out in less than a week). I lived in Africa, I’m living in America, I interviewed some amazing people, I worked with some of the best journalists in the business, and I learned the most important thing of all: I am capable. Both personally and professionally, this year has been amazing. I have been blessed with a lot of good things this year, but making a list of them this time around seems inappropriate.

*That said, this year has been the most difficult year in my entire adult life financially. Even though I’ve come dangerously close to giving up and getting a job, I know that doing so would be putting myself at odds with who I truly am. I don’t mention my financial troubles to further depress the already depressed, but to tell you that the fluctuations are a part of this career, and you need to be able to deal with them. No matter how successful you get and no matter how many credits follow your name, you are always prone to changes in the market. Enjoy your success, but don’t get too attached to it. A freelancer is always one bankrupt client away from financial woes.

* When I was about ten years old, I had a cousin who I really admired. I never really got to know her, but to my ten-year-old mind, she was what I wanted to be at age twenty-six. Confident, independent, successful. As I went through life, I faced many challenges, but a cycle of depression was possibly the biggest one. That number– twenty-six– stuck in my mind. That was going to be my peak year. The best year of my life. The year in which it would all come together. The months before my twenty-sixth birthday were probably the hardest I’ve been hit with depression in my entire life. When I had all but given up, a writer encouraged me to find strength in words. I started blogging again, I started sharing my honest thoughts with my writer’s group, and they helped me get through it.

I didn’t expect twenty-six to be anything special, let alone the best year in my life, but something happened on my birthday that completely shocked me: I received, suddenly and unexpectedly, my first assignment from Time. What was amazing about this, was that for a month preceding this, on the prodding of a friend, I had taken to writing daily affirmations in my journal. One of my affirmations: “I will get an assignment from Time before my birthday.”

I turn twenty-seven next week. And I can say, without any doubt, that twenty-six has indeed been one of the best years of my life.

Enjoy the holiday season everyone!

A little off-topic today:

My boyfriend rescued a beautiful two-month-old puppy from the streets of Delhi, and as much as he wants to keep her, he’s leaving the country on Friday and can’t.

We’d really like to find this puppy a loving home, so if you’re in Delhi and would like to take her in, please let me know at mridukhullar (at) gmail.com.

Just to be clear, there will be no exchange of money. All we want is to find the puppy a family that’ll love her.

Here’s a photograph of her: