There was a time when I looked forward to the New Year with great anticipation. I dared it to be the biggest, best, most bad@$$ year in the books. “Bring it on!” I’d shout in my end-of-the-year, Christmas-cookie-and-eggnog-induced stupor. Looking back…I don’t know what on EARTH I thought I was doing talking to a new year like that.
Things are different now. I’ve learned to approach a new year with quiet respect. Like tiptoeing in to check on the baby as she naps, I’m more likely to peek around the corner and whisper in hushed tones. I don’t trust the New Year anymore. I don’t make sudden movements for fear of setting something off that’s likely to snowball out of control. I want the New Year to slip in quietly on kitten feet, sit down, and shut the heck up till I get an idea what it’s up to.
I’m not the only one. I’m hearing it everywhere.
“For the love of God, just give me a year with some semblance of normalcy!”
As my friend, Kate puts it, “If there was a fabric that 2023 should be it would be soft-as-snow linen. Crisp from the sun, fresh smelling with a hint of lavender. I just crave soft, old, gentle, and calm. Literally, that’s it to my core.”
Finally…after being the social pariah for, like, forever…mental health is standing up and screaming, “LOOK AT ME!!!” It’s about darned time, too. You cannot sweep mental health issues under the rug and expect to maintain the status quo in society. People have had it up to here with all the repetitive trauma we’ve been subjected to the last few years.
So, this is where we are. It’s ok to not be completely ok. It’s ok to look at the new year with a little trepidation while still hoping for the best. This collective grieving we’ve been doing as a nation is taking its toll and it’s time for a change now. If your brother was struggling, you’d check in on him more often. If your sister wasn’t leaving her house for weeks at a time, you’d call and check in. If anyone we cared about were hurting, we’d do whatever we could to try to make things better.
So, why is it so hard to do for people we DON’T know? Why is it even harder to do for people we don’t LIKE? There is only one way to effect big change in the world and that’s to effect small change in our corner of it. Here are some of the ways I intend to create change in the world in the coming New Year.
- Pray
- Smile
- Care
- Greet
- Share
- Learn
- Grow
- Feed
- Support
- Love
- Hug
- Donate
- Teach
- Paint
- Listen
- Compromise
- Tolerate
- Meet
- Explore
- HOPE!
I will not lose hope, no matter how hopeless things look. Emily Dickinson said, “Hope” is the thing with feathers – that perches in the soul – and sings the tune without the words – and never stops – at all.
I read somewhere the other day that said something to the effect that hope does not have feathers. It’s bloody and raw and fights with claws out and fangs bared. That’s a huge paraphrase, but you get the point. We don’t get through the rough spots of life on pictures of fluffy kittens and songs like Kumbaya. Hope is a sign of fierce bravery. One who hopes must learn to fight for the spoils of the battle between good and evil.
Because, iykyk…if you know, you know.
Good WILL win.
Good has already WON!
But that doesn’t mean we can become complacent. We still have to suit up and show up and put one foot in front of the other and BE THE LIGHT!
BE THE CHANGE!
Always, alway, always look for the good people. And if you can’t find one…BE ONE!
That’s my treatise on the New Year. My word for 2023 will be CHANGE. Not because I want any more change in the world, but because there already has been so much. We’ve been led astray by nonsensical fallacies that need to be laid to rest. We need to stop pointing fingers and start holding hands. We need to stand up and be brave and help each other through the next few years till we can reach a new level of enlightenment. A place where we can truly live as Jesus lived…by loving everyone unconditionally.
Happy New Year, my friends! May we all be blessed with every gift God has for us with our names on them. I’m taking a few days off at the end of the year. We’re having two big family gatherings in the coming days and I want to be present for them. I’ll post some things ahead of time so you have something to read with your coffee and I’ll be back on board this crazy ship on Monday.
Stay safe, walk strong, and NEVER LOSE HOPE!
Love,
Ginny
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“This is God’s Word on the subject: ….. “I know what I’m doing. I have it all planned out—plans to take care of you, not abandon you, plans to give you the future you hope for.”
Jeremiah 29:10-11 MSG
Well said!
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