Why do you write? 

This is a question I always ask myself at the beginning of a new year -- and, each year, my answer is more or less the same: because I want to connect with people and make a difference in the world through my written words.

The world, however, is an awfully big place, and sometimes it can be daunting to think of your words out there, attempting to touch the people who read them. I'd like to share a story that always helps me find inspiration and motivation when I get overwhelmed:

A terrific storm pounded the coast all night long. The following day, a man walked alone along the beach that was covered with hundreds upon hundreds, perhaps even thousands, of starfish that had washed up on the sand by the high waves and were now stranded.

Far ahead of him on the beach, the man saw another beachcomber who was constantly bending down, straightening up, throwing something -- stones? -- into the ocean, and then bending down again.  As the first man walked closer, he saw that what the other man was throwing into the ocean was not rocks or sticks, but rather starfish, one by one by one.

"What in the world are you doing?" the first man asked when he reached the second man.

"I'm throwing these starfish back into the ocean because if they don't get back in the water soon they will die," he answered.

 "But there are hundreds -- thousands -- of starfish on this stretch of beach alone," the first man protested. "What possible difference can you make?"

"Well, to this starfish," the second man said, holding one of them in his hand as he prepared to toss it into the waves, "I can make a big difference."

With each word you write, you too can make a big difference.  Here's to a new year full of imagination and inspiration.