New Luck for a New Year

(painting by Marc-Antoine)

There are often funny things that happen in the human mind that have no bearing on any sense of reality. One of those is the importance we place on the changing from December into January. It's only another day switching over into the next, but for some reason as the year clicks over, we feel the weight of it as though what had been the present suddenly has become the past.

I won't pretend that I didn't feel thankful that 2011 ended. I didn't even bother staying up to watch it end as a way of showing my disdain. For whatever cosmic reasons, odd numbered years have always been historically bad for me. Of course, in the universal spirit of what-goes-around-comes-around, even numbered years tend to be good in seemingly equal and opposite proportion. If that's the case this year, 2012 is looking to be spectacular.

This year already started off on a good note. Thanks to the Missus, the first words out of my mouth on the morning of the 1st were "Rabbit. Rabbit." Saying that as the first thing on the first of the month brings good luck. As readers here well know, my superstitious nature is quite prominent and this is one of those that I truly believe in. In fact, due to the nearly impossible nature of it, it is perhaps the pinnacle of good omens. I've only remembered to do it twice before in my life, but one of those times was also on January 1st and that year was quite a good one. Here's to looking for a repeat of past luck.

Best of luck in the New Year to all of you as well.

Luck Shines Brightly on a Day Like Today

In my own personal warped religion, 11:11 am or pm is a sacred time when all wishes made will eventually be granted, provided they are made with sincerity. Given the date today, this figures to be one of immense good fortune for all fellow believers.

As readers of my books will know, I'm a firm believer in luck. It's a trait I often pass onto my characters. In my novel Thief, I invented a form of wishing for the main character where she writes her wishes on a piece of paper, drops them in the Hudson River to allow them to float out over the ocean, waiting for the day when seagulls will carry the wish back to her. One of my readers once told me they began practicing this ritual with her daughter. I felt honored to have contributed to the pantheon of good luck.

I'm also a devoted follower of the moon and often direct my concerns to it. Over the course of my life, I've noticed how my dreams are more involved and extremely vivid leading up to the full moon. Last night was a full moon...on 11-11-11. Good omens abound and I wish you all the best on this rare holiday.

Fears & Superstitions

What better day than Friday the 13th to talk about fears and superstitions? I have lots of them. It's never to the point where it interferes with my daily life, but they are certainly a part of my daily life. Just so you know what I'm talking about, here's a airing of grievances I have with reality:

Fears

* Bugs - the flying and the creepy crawly kind. I hate bugs. An ant invasion in the house kept me sleeping poorly for months last year. Palm-sized waterbugs in an apartment kept me restless the entire summer of 1995 in NYC. A see-through mutant gummy-looking spider that I saw in the bathroom of my 89th Street Apartment still gives me the shivers...but that's because spiders are the worst with their spidery way of moving. A close second is Bees. A bee comes near me and I make a fist. Though, I've tried to make peace and we have a tentative truce at the moment. I've negotiated a settlement with the spiders as well during the Ant Wars. We are uneasy allies like France and the UK in the big one.

* Bad Luck - I fear luck changing to misfortune. I'm a firm believer in luck and that luck is not something you can make. I've had incredible runs of good luck in my life and some relatively short stretches of bad luck. More than anything, I fear a long stretch of bad luck. Years of bad luck? *shudder* And there's nothing you can do about it except wish. Which brings me to...

Superstitions

* Wishing - this is sort of like a religion for me, something that developed from my childhood and simply strengthened over time. I make wishes on eyelashes. I wish when the clock strikes 11:11 (I also do 1:11, 2:22, 3:33, 4:44, 5:55, 10:10 and 12:12- but 11:11 has the most magic in it). I will wait by the clock if I see it a minute or two before one of these numbers, simply to make a wish. I throw pennies in fountains. I wish on shooting stars, luckily I live in a place where they are semi-frequent. I try (and mostly fail) to say "Rabbit, Rabbit" the first thing upon waking up on the first of any month. Oh, and I cross my fingers a LOT. I always take notice whenever someone says "Oh that's supposed to be good luck" and usually incorporate it into my religion.

To any reader of my books, either my novels or children's books, none of this will come as a surprise as these traits often find their way into my characters. A writer has to use their own insecurities, fears, and insanity to their advantage. These are your raw materials and you must mine them.