CHAPTER 5: TRAILER FOR MY CREATIVE 2026

 
Inspire Uplift

Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow,

Creeps in this petty pace from day to day,

To the last syllable of recorded time;

And all our yesterdays have lighted fools

The way to dusty death.

Shakespeare certainly knew how to use words to their fullest. The above lines have Macbeth quoting these lines to emphasise on the way time passes, our ultimate destination being ‘dusty death’.

Which is why I feel that 2026 should be a slower year for me, career wise, when I do not carry on creeping from “tomorrow to tomorrow to tomorrow”.

2025 was a year when I tried to balance my life as an educationist and a writer together, both aspects significant to me.

I intend to tweak 2026 a trifle. As Virginia Woolf said,

“If you are losing your leisure, look out! It may be you are losing your soul.”

The promises of 2026 whisper their melodies into my ear.

                                                                                             Made You Smile Back

 Personal goals:

·      More me-time so that I do not lose my soul

·      Hours spent with my family, travelling, celebrating, eating out (definitely!) and living life to the hilt

·      Meeting friends, having long conversations with people who matter in our lives

·      Doing little things to make the most important people in my life happy and feel cherished

·      Take time out to laugh and have pure fun

 

Creative Goals:

·      Reading books in different genres, even those I am wary of

·      Writing in a journal every single day

·      Brushing up on my drawing/ painting skills

·      Doing a podcast or online literary events, or even recording eBooks (a suggestion from my writer friends)

·      Carrying on mentoring children to read and write more, and savour the beauty of literature (a tough job given their penchant for reels and social media posts!)

Finally, to end with a favourite quote:

“You don’t stop having fun because you get old. You get old because you stop having fun.”

 

                                                                                             Freepik
 

Chapter 5: Mini Trailer for my creative 2026 - #blogchatterwrapparty

#blogchatter #NewYear #2026 #minitrailer #creativegoals #personalgoals #slowingdown #happiness #family #laughter #leisure

CHAPTER 4: THANK YOU FOR ALL THE SUPPORT AND APPRECIATION!

 
LittleYellowStar

Another wonderful year whizzes past and in the month of December, one is left wondering how fast time flew. One also looks back with gratitude at all the helping hands held out, words of appreciation and positive criticism, and umpteen opportunities created by generous souls to aid one’s writing.

Personally, I did find many mentors, most of them younger than me (I was born in the last century, you know!) who filled my heart with gratitude and joy.

So, a loud round of applause to my very own supporting cast over the eventful year of 2025:

1.     The intrepid team of Blogchatter who comes up with stupendous challenges across the year… even though I have pulled my hair out, trying to fit in deadlines before they whoosh by, I have been able to complete all the challenges I have taken up, sometimes by the skin of my teeth. Thank you, the core team of Blogchatter for being absolute rockstars!

2.     Dipankar Mukherjee and Indrani Ganguly of Readomania, who have always held my hand in giving suggestions, pushing my boundaries and helping me to bring out books that are a piece of my heart! While they are my publisher and editor, they are true friends and mentors as well.

3.     Manali Desai and Sukaina Majeed for having brainstormed and come up with some amazing Blog Hops that were a delight to be part of, with myriad interesting books as prizes. Their optimism and helpfulness made every challenge a pleasure.

Of course, added to this list are my ever-supportive writer friends, my offline pals and my family, who have always been silent and effective cheerleaders right through.

 
Dreamstime

Thank you all for being in my life! 

This is Chapter 5: SUPPORTING CAST APPRECIATION POST -  SHOUT OUT TO 3 PEOPLE WHO SUPPORTED YOUR YEAR AS A CREATOR

@blogchatterwrapparty

CHAPTER 3: CREATOR YEAR BINGO

 

                                                     
#BlogchatterWrapParty

CHAPTER 2: STARS IN MY EYES!

 

                                                                                                                  Etsy

I thought cataracts only happened to people after a certain age. Till I realised that I was, indeed, at that very age.

Around six years back I recall walking into an optician’s shop at Chennai and doing an eye test. I began to read the usual list of alphabets that petered from huge to ant-sized, and I nearly fell off my chair when the optician declared,

“Madam, you have a cataract in your left eye.” He seemed unusually jubilant about it.

                                                                                                  Redbubble

I was much less jubilant, of course, and I wondered how on earth such a catastrophe had happened. Long story short, my husband hustled me off to a small but well-maintained eye clinic, where I had the most enjoyable surgery ever, with rainbow colours swirling around my eye and a pleasurable feeling of water being poured into it. I came out whistling!

This year, I finally attained perfect eyesight when I went in for a cataract surgery in my right eye, something I had never experienced my entire life. Perfect eyesight, I mean! Another perfect surgery ticked off in my medical list!

                                                                                                                Etsy

In class eight, I assumed that the world was a naturally blurry place and that everyone thought so. One day, I slipped on my dad’s glasses, and suddenly, everything became crystal clear. I had myopia, and how!

I hated wearing glasses. Especially the ones I owned which were hideous and off-putting. They were like braces on my eyes, highly unprepossessing. I would hide them every chance I got, and often missed a great deal happening around me, including recognising my acquaintances. For a long time, I was misunderstood, until they realised that I was more blind than snooty.

Till last year, my better half claimed that when we had got married, I had seen only half of him, given the fact that that is how I had generally seen everything in life. This year, he is singing a different tune, of course. For not only have my cataracts disappeared, but I am seeing things a whole lot better, physically and mentally.

I now have stars in my eyes!

 
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This is Chapter 2: Stars in my Eyes - #BlogchatterWrapParty

CHAPTER 1: 2025: THE 'PAHELI' IN DEEPTI’S CHAOTIC LIFE!

 
Unsplash

What is life, if not a mystery, a puzzle, a ‘paheli’? The first question came before I was born, in fact. Would I be Deepti or Aditya? That was an easy one!

The next conundrum made an appearance when I finished school. What stream would I take? It was not as if I had a whole trunk full of choices, and I certainly did not want to pick the two that were on everyone’s lips.

Engineering or Medicine!

                                                                                                      Career Guide

When I opted for the Arts stream (they call it Humanities these days!), my Physics professor who also helped me in Math, almost had a stroke. The poor gentleman had poured his heart and soul into getting me to love the subjects, to the extent that I got better marks in them than in my beloved English even.

                                                                                                        Freepik
I resuscitated him with reverence, and then went on to take up English Literature for the next seven years, all the way to my Post Graduation where words played a significant role in my life.

                                                                                              Dreamstime

Today, as I pore over my 11^th published book, I wonder where I would have been if I had taken another path. I would probably have been wealthier and more famous, but would I have been as happy and content?

                                                                                                        Pinterest

Another ‘paheli’ to pore over! 

Unsplash

 This is Chapter 1: #BlogchatterWrapParty 2025.

What would the title of your life be?

#blogchatterwrapupparty #deepties #blogchatter #theyear2025 #theyeargoneby