The time that we never thought would be here has finally arrived and, with the new year around the corner, the "new year, new me" is high on everyone's lists. But with the Instagram Top 9s or the Spotify Music in Review, it makes me wonder if this is a year where I don't set high standards for myself and simply live without any expectation. Over these past ten months, with Covid running rampant and most people stuck in their homes (or, if you're like me, stuck in your 400 square foot apartment), the thought of "new year, new me" has a meaning that I don't think I'm ready to fully address. However, for the sake of blogging, I will try my hardest to make that happen.
What is it that this year has taught me? That's the biggest take away as 2020 winds down. At first, it started hopeful. I had left my job and was ready to start the process of finding a new one, one that would bring happiness and fulfillment that I felt I was lacking. I thought I had found it; I had an interview scheduled for a company that I thought would be my ticket to bigger and better things - I was no longer going to feel like my work skill-set was wasted or underused. The initial phone interview went well, so well that a second interview was scheduled which, as they made it seem, was merely a formality. The job was mine. Then the world shut down, bringing with it the job that I thought I was perfect for. This brings me to my first point of what I'm planning on bringing into this unknown new year: Perspective.
Hindsight is 20/20, as the saying goes. This year, that saying has a whole new meaning. If this year has taught me anything, it's that I can't look at myself (or others, for that matter) as one dimensional. I have to look at everything, and everyone, from all sides. Not everything is what it appears to be, as we may already know. But what will make this new year exciting is that looking at all that I have been through, I can start taking my own advice. Which, when it comes down to it, is the advice given me from my parents. It's funny: the older I get, the more I realize that my parents were - dare I say it? - right. They would say things along the line of "hindsight is 20/20" or "I was your age once" which was always, and quickly, brushed off. Now, I've reached a point where I fully understand what they were saying. All I was missing was life experiences. And it's by living life that I come to my second point of what I'm planning on bringing to the new year: every day is a new one.
Should old acquaintance be forgot and never brought to mind
Lingering on an issue was something I'm very good at. I wouldn't say that I hold grudges or anything. What I would say is that it's difficult for me to forget if I've been wronged in the past, which then disallows me to rekindle relationships once I feel they've been broken. Something I want to take with me is the notion that not everything is solidified and, if something happens one day, does not necessarily mean that it should continue to the next. Everybody has bad days, sometimes multiple bad days in a row. There could be something discussed that catches you or someone else on that bad day, leading to arguments that simply aren't necessary to the overall message. While I don't want to forget what is said - because words do, in fact, matter - it's taking the time to remember that that was then, this is now. It all leads back to perspective.
We'll take a cup of kindness yet, for auld lang syne
Lastly, kindness. That's the final thing I want to take with me into this coming year. It's a simple gesture that any and everyone is capable of doing. Yet, kindness is sometimes forgotten when we are dealing with others, or when we're on edge, especially dealing with this pandemic. Kindness, sometimes, is the last thing that we can muster. But, if my hindsight has perfect vision, kindness is often the thing that someone needs to take them off that ledge. It can be a simple wave to a stranger, calling a friend you haven't spoken to in awhile. It's an easy gesture and something that needs to be expressed in the world more than ever.
I feel this is a better way to show, whomever reads this little blog I started, my thoughts on what this year has been like and where I hope to go in the coming days, weeks, and months. With these last couple hours of 2020, I want to sit back and reflect on all the good things that have happened. And, since people like them, I'll make my own Top 6 of 2020:
Jeremiah graduated with his Master's Degree, something he had been working hard for over three years to accomplish.
We adopted a dog, Jack Kerouwag, who has been a welcome addition (and distraction)
I started this blog, something I had been contemplating but never had the gumption to actually start
Everybody in my inner-circle has been healthy, something not everybody can say
I've been able to read more since there's not much else to do.
I've been writing more, aside from this blog. Being creative, I've rediscovered, has been therapeutic
Happy New Year, everyone! Here's to the start of something bigger and better
-G
Title: Auld Lang Syne
Artist: Various Artists
Year Released: Scottish Poem first written in 1788