I’m no future predictor and my lived track record fully attests to that. Oy. On the other hand, my many years surviving so far may have given me a step ahead in assessing probabilities. That’s only a guess. So, I hope you’ll indulge me a little on my year-end musings for life in general for the upcoming one.

On December 31, 2019, I posted a small thought on a sense of optimism with a coat of trepidation that I’d felt then for the upcoming 2020. I had nothing concrete in support of that feeling, but it really didn’t take long for that intuition to receive validation.

Twenty four hours later our family was devastated by the shocking death of a young family member; only 20 days later, shocked again with the diagnosis of a fatal disease for another, and that all soon followed by the announcement of the world-wide pandemic. I suppose to say the world would also soon feel the shake-up would be a bit of an understatement.

I’d surmised in those early 2020 days, that this was a sort of re-set decade where we’d all be tested and revealed to be who we really are. The Decade of Exposure. A time when scales are removed from our eyes and the plugs removed from our ears and we take an honest hard look and accounting of the world we have built around and within, ourselves.

We’ve certainly gotten our eyes and ears full of that, haven’t we? The Decade of Exposure. It isn’t stopping at exposure either; the next steps are up to us and we are obliged to follow through or lose so much. It’s been a series of painful events, this world-wide learning curve to see what is, but it’s one that seems utterly necessary. We need to see it all to clean up our messes, whether on the micro or macro levels of our lives. Seems like that’s coming to fruition to a large degree too and thank goodness, because we are so far behind in equalizing equities and upholding justices.

We’re reviewing our leaderships; the people we choose to call our heroes; the rules of oligarchs and societal norms; the roles we all play and what our value is within them. We’re seeing how we’re manipulated by those factors and more, but through this, we’ve begun some promising insight for ourselves. It’s been something to see and hear so many, very thoughtful people moving to the forefront to speak up and challenge the cacophony of extremes, breaking up a good swath of apathy.

It’s this that tugs at that sense of optimism again for me. Still, despite my known lack in future reading, I can’t shake the sense of a bit of a continuing uphill challenge for 2023. I feel this winter will be a bit of a tester on several fronts and to remain cautious, to live with a little extra care, seems a good idea. My own relief is the belief that good things are soon coming behind all that. Our work to do better begins to pay off. We’re all a little wiser and better. At least, that’s my best dream, if not actual prescience.

And so, with that I wish all the very best for the new year. May all good dreams come true.

RL

Balancing challenge
Beauty and muddled chaos
Peace behind the fog
RL

_{Photo: Evening Snowfall, by DaXXe, Deviant Art}

Introspection cleanse
Insight sparked
Reflection winner

RL

_{Photo: Brossen, by DaXXe, Deviant Art}