Happy New Year

Midsummer Sunrise, Gulf of Saint Lawrence (NASA))

And there we have it, an end to 2021, a year many of us are happy to see in the rearview mirror.

A year of sadness and loss…
A year of illness…
A year of anxiety…
A year of assaults on our democracy…
A year of assaults on the truth…
A year of further degradations… to our civic bonds, to the health and safety of the planet, to a women’s right to choose, to the dignity of so many of our fellow citizens, and to peoples struggling around the world.

We find ourselves adrift, uncertain where we will, or even whether we will, find a safe harbor in which to anchor to ride out the storm.

But for the moment, let us look up, and look forward. Let us recognize that there is much goodness in this world, that there are so many who right now are helping, in our hospitals, in our schools, and in countless jobs, volunteer programs, and households. There are even many helpers in our governments, at the national, state, and local levels.

I am fueled by all of you who are striving to make this world, in some meaningful way, a little bit better. I wish you all a happy and healthy New Year.

New Years is about recognizing that the past need not be prologue, if we find the will to chart a new path. It is about embracing hope, because the work necessary to make hope possible can itself be self-fulfilling.

On a personal note, 2021 will always hold a special place in my heart. It was the year we began this Steady newsletter. We didn’t know what to expect, or if anyone would show up or care about what we were trying to build. But you have, and you did. I cannot express the full measure of my gratitude.

I have lived through a lot of New Years. And from my experience, one is usually eager, when the time comes, to let the previous year slip away. The nature of life, the nature or our celestial journey around the sun, the nature of the seasons, is that we live through cycles of renewal, even as we ourselves age.

Ecclesiastes tells us, “To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven.” One need not be religious to see the wisdom of this sentiment.

I hold on to this line from the passage: “A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance.” Now is the time for all of this, and so much more.

Life is a journey of inconsistencies and contradictions. It will be full of surprises.

So here’s to wishing the happy surprises of 2022 far outweighs the bad, that health outweighs sickness, that joy outweighs pain.

And let us remember that when we act together, we are always stronger than when we try to act alone.

Happy New Year my friends, Steady.