Do over. New beginning. Reboot. We’ve all had at least one fresh start. Some people run away from something horrible and have to start over. Many have no choice because they’ve lost a job. Others, like my friend who was a big inspiration for Becker Circle, run to fulfill their dreams and new beginnings. She’s now back home in England studying to become a nurse.
Then there are those who run both away and toward like Gillian, the main character in Becker Circle and Dark Energy. She escaped an abusive boyfriend to seek her dream of being strong and independent for her fresh start. Gillian schemed and worked her butt off to graduate Harvard a semester early and slip out of Boston while her boyfriend was away for the holidays. She wasn’t choosey about her destination as long as it was far away from him, came with a great job offer, and gave her room to breathe. That’s how she ended up in the trendy urban area of Dallas called Becker Circle.
This week marks the 10-year anniversary of my own personal independence of sorts. Shattered confidence. Mistakes to not relive. A new history to create. If anyone is afraid to leave a difficult or abusive relationship, you can do more than you think. Life on the other side is better than you can ever imagine.
Like Gillian, and all of us, fresh starts come with experimentation. Downright screw-ups. Mistakes are how we know we really are starting over. When Gillian moved into Becker Circle, she made many bad choices—some even put her life in danger. She owned up to them, learned from each one, and tried to not repeat the same mistakes. She always knew they were her choices and no one else’s.
Live your fresh start!
