Another Year Begins...

It's that time again. Another year has passed, slowly snaking under the bridge and flowing toward the sea and oblivion. I suppose this time of the year is custom made for reflection, regret and healthy doses of optimism. The slate has been wiped clean, so to speak. The new year is a blank canvas, and we stand before it, brush in hand, ready to paint the coming months as we would like them to be. Like I said - optimism. Our brains overflow with plans, improvement and a fresh sense that we control our destiny. We can make the coming year whatever we want it to be.

Everyone knows that the belief that we control our destiny, that we can mold the months ahead as we see fit, is not entirely within the realm of possibility. There's an old saying that says something along the lines of, "Life is 10% what we make it, and 90% how we react to it." That's probably not the exact quote, but you get the idea. The simple fact is that life, in large part, happens to us. Sometimes a loved one gets sick or a job is lost, and these are hardly things we had in mind when painting the canvas of our lives. The fact remains that these things are not made any less real, or any less a part of our existence, by our not planning for or desiring them. Life happens, and that's a cold, hard fact. The only choice we have is to adapt, be strong and move forward, incorporating the good and bad and unexpected into the pastiche of our lives. Like John Irving said, "Half my life is an act of revision." Sure, Mr. Irving was referring to the importance of revision in the craft of the written word. However, I think he was also referring to the act of living in itself. Life is truly a constant act of revision. Life happens, and we revise as we plod along the often bumpy paths upon which we travel.

With these things in mind, I stare down the barrel of a new year and I hope for the best.

The past year was, all told, a pretty good year for me. I'm cynical by nature, and it's easy to look back on the negatives. The economy is in tatters. A misguided war still rages in Iraq, while another conflict reignites between Israel and Palestine. Closer to home, the poor state of the Commonwealth's fiscal health has guaranteed I get no raises in 2009. I look back and realize I still didn't make many of the personal changes I had wanted to enact in 2008. Kid Rock, whose success is reason enough to doubt the existence of a higher power, continues to sell records. (Yes, I still call them records. I'm old. Sue me.) Still, I can't help but marvel at the good that emerged in 2008. We united for change and elected the most unlikely president in our nation's history. I look forward to seeing O take office, and continue to have faith in his vision for America's future. I watch my daughter grow into an amazing, independent woman, and I smile at the fact that I got something right. It's the pastiche. The good and the bad. We revise and we adapt and we move forward.

Cynicism aside, I look at each new year with a sense of (slightly guarded) optimism. There's much work to do to make this world a better place. There are many hurdles to surmount, and the road ahead is never easy. I think that's what makes life sweet. If there were no obstacles, then the appreciation for those things that are good would diminsh. "A spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down," so to speak.

I look forward to the coming year. I wish you all the best.