The company we keep

I received a New Year's email from a few friends, with loads of cute pics & captions, and one caught my eye.

May you find the perfect balance in the company you keep.

In the first week of a new year, this really hit home.

People come and go in our lives.
We can make friends in the most unlikely places and find friends we've known for years drift out of our lives for unknown reasons.

I've given up trying to analyse people's motivations (unless it's my characters!)

Instead, I prefer to surround myself with friends who want to be there: friends who make me dream and laugh and natter like there's no tomorrow.
Friends who rejoice in my success and are happy for me.
Friends who will be there for me no matter what.

And this applies doubly to my writing.

If you're a writer, surround yourself with positive people.

You'll have enough of the other sort, the ones who snicker behind your back, the ones who rubbish what you write while smiling to your face, the ones who are condescending and superior and jealous. Nix these.

Creativity needs to be nurtured and negativity is an emotional time-suck.

As one wise sporting company once promoted: "life's short, play hard."