Anticipation

I had all these great ideas for today's post rattling around in my head right before I went to sleep last night. I was going to be serious, profound. I was going to change your life. Unfortunately, this morning I couldn't remember any of those remarkable ideas. But as I was driving around doing errands, I heard a Carly Simon song ("You're So Vain") on the radio. That made me think of other Carly Simon songs, including the one which title I've stolen for this post.
I have been anticipating many wonderful things in this new year, such as the completion of the first draft of my new novel, a writing conference in March, the reading my students and I planned (and executed this past Saturday). And I notice that while I am in this state of anticipating good things, I feel pretty great. And if I think really positively about the things anticipated, they usually don't disappoint when they actually take place. Of course, this thinking is not original, and is in line with the plethora of new agey self help books a la The Secret. But it is nonetheless true, if at the moment a little cheesy seeming. The less I complain about my fate and my future, the more I concentrate on positively anticipating events, the better I feel. Even contemplating with anticipation the small things in my day, like my next cup of tea, or reading the Irish Times in the morning, do me good.
So, for today's exercise, make a list of ANTICIPATION. Write down five things you are positively anticipating. Big things like a vacation, or small things like seeing a new movie. Then dwell on them. Think how you will feel when they happen. Extend the pleasure. Write about how you'll feel, draw it. Start getting some kicks out of your one wild and precious life, to paraphrase Mary Oliver.