As we begin another year, we have 52 weeks or 365 days ahead. Literally ANYTHING can happen, if last year was any demonstration. It was a historic and unprecedented year on so many levels. Each new year as we closeout one and look towards the beginning of a new one, we stand at a place, a point in time, where the possibilities are endless. So many people did not make it across the threshold of 2018 and no matter what the circumstances, those that were close to them were not prepared to say goodbye. No matter how much time we have, there never seems to be enough of it when it comes to holding on to those we love for one last moment. For this very reason, we should make the moments that we have count. We should work on being “present” in those moments rather than recording them, texting about them or focusing on what might come next. We never know how many moments we have or how many we have left.
There were so many unbelievable moments to deal with in the year that just passed, politically, socially, civically, environmentally within our communities, our nation and our world. The catastrophic effects of climate change that sent multiple category 4 and 5 hurricanes back-to-back across the beautiful Caribbean Islands and Puerto Rico, turning them into disaster areas inflicting devastation and destruction that will take years and possibly decades to recover from. Oil spills and ruptured pipelines across sacred Native Lands, prolonged contaminated water laced with lead, while the community’s voices went unheard and their concerns remain ignored. Massive wild fires wiped out thousands of acres of forestland and hundreds and hundreds of single-family homes and businesses. We endured domestic terrorism and the largest mass murder in modern American history, while no movement on sensible gun legislation was enacted. The nation’s newly elected administration pushed policy that seemed less kind, and less inclusive of all Americans while dismantling other policies that attempted to facilitate moving more Americans towards healthcare benefits that were previously unavailable to them. And yet, when Americans felt they were being pushed too far they rose up, resisted and pushed back.
Rhetoric of war turned into threats of war in a modern world where such hot rhetoric could mean nuclear annihilation. For the first time in history, social media became the foremost purveyor of Presidential communication and the thermometer of Presidential temperament and intention. The year 2017 was both unsettling and alarming and yet we made it to 2018. The stories of ordinary women being harassed and assaulted by powerful and previously untouchable men in their towers of power and privilege began to come tumbling down. Finally, the women were believed instead of doubted, a testament to their courage and solidarity. Let’s make the best of 2018 because we can. We must. Especially now, while we have the entire year ahead of us.
