Moving around the Sun

This is my first post in an awful long time. I didn't realize it, but when I logged in to write this, I had several rough drafts from the past few months that were half-way done. I'd forgotten about them. My heart wasn't in it. Blogs about the baseball playoffs, about COVID hysteria, about election hysteria, about personal triumphs and tragedies, about the loss of dear friends due to illness and accident this year...

I was surprised how many thoughts were started and remained incomplete. And I had to delete them all. I'm starting anew, with new hope and new direction and determination for the new year. I'm sure I'm not the only one who is feeling this way, and it's all because of this:

You see, the planet we live on has just finished a 584 million mile journey around its sun. And because of that, I have to go on a diet. And learn a new skill. And clean my sock drawer. And get rid of countless bad habits. And I have to list them and hold myself accountable for as long as possible (with the diet it was about 16 hours). And I'm not the only one who does this.

It is a great feeling to see that new number roll by. And as we move forward with our lives, we can jumble all the ugliness of the past years' events and stuff them into a little mental box labeled, "2020," and forget all about them. And our fresh new slate will be a bright, blank canvas to project all the beautiful new ideas in our heads, and inspire them into being. How exciting!

So why did the half-written posts linger for so long? Well, it seemed to me that the every outcome was in doubt, and therefore impossible to write about conclusively. It's okay to say that you don't know what's going to happen, but it's really troubling to realize you don't even know what's happening! I've lost the ability to see clearly the events not only about to conspire, but things that are going on right in front of me. It's baffling, and very unsettling.

And the trip around the sun hasn't really helped. I still have trouble understanding people's attitudes about COVID, about sports and politics (which present eerily similar prescribed attitudes, don't they?) and about man's relationship with the universe. Ripping off a page from the calendar hasn't changed that one bit. But for 2021 I'm going to commit myself to productive projects, both musical and literary, that will give this year a special significance in my life. I vow it.

I've made similar promises in the past, of course, but there's something different about this one. I can feel it. Maybe it's the hope of a fresh, new appreciation of virus free life. Maybe it's the motivation of the spirits of my recently departed friends. Maybe it's the looming political sea change that's about to occur, for one reason or another. Or maybe it's because the Padres are actually contenders this year. Time will tell. But I'm done sitting still, and I hope you are, too!

Do you have a new year's resolution, or a wish for 2021? Let me know, and I'll add it to my list of prayers for you! Happy New Year, friends!