Well, 2008 has been an interesting year in the Confucian sense. I needn’t remind anyone of why; the headlines will do that. But personally, it’s been twelve months of reckoning and re-evaluating. Working in the Canadian cultural industry is always perilous, and the past year has been particularly unsettling: economies going down the toilet, layoffs, parity, elections...I expect to hear the clatter of apocalyptic hoof beats soon. It makes one tired physically, emotionally, and intellectually. The only highlight was Barak Obama’s election to the White House. I was able to let my growing cynicism take a break, and basked in the warmth of possibility. It was nice.
Tomorrow is the last day of this tumultuous year, and Thursday will the first of 365 days of what I hope will be positive change if only for me and my friends: marriages, babies, passports, new jobs, better attitudes. I don’t expect the economy to boost or for governments to realize that their job is, in fact, to govern and not bully. I do expect 2009 to be a year of progressive adjustment. Ghosts will give way to realistic goals.
Normally, I make resolutions that are realistic and achievable. One year I changed my career, the next I lost weight (and it remains lost). Among my promises is that I will spend more time writing and not let my small space on the worldwide web become as dusty as I have in the last six months.
Here’s hoping for positive change! Cheers and happy New Year!
