“Taking a new step, uttering a new word, is what people fear the most.”
-Fyodor Dostoevsky
Last week, I wrote about the idea of actually taking a pause from all the craziness. This year had just been so much that I figured the idea of taking a break from the ideological battles that have torn families apart, just might be on the safer side. I find it a little more than interesting that a majority of the people I have spoken with this week haven’t exactly sung praises about their Christmas this season. Sadly, it was kind of to be expected. I fear that people are so worn down right now that every argument, every piece of bad news, is just adding to an ever-growing pile of nihilism.
Of course, I wouldn’t want to just leave you with such a dark note. In times like this, I find it unimaginably important to make light of the situation and categorize problems or events into much more manageable segments. Something like the Epstein/Maxwell trial closure is something I would put off to a later date of worry, as there is very little any single person can do when the villain has clearly been defeated…
No instead I want to focus on the New Year, and what that may mean. There are multiple things a New Year can represent. It can represent simply the end of the calendar year, reminding you to run to the dollar store and get yet another desk calendar you will never use because outlook calendar and your smartphone are far more convenient. And of course, there are a variety of different spiritual meanings that the New Year can represent, depending on mythology or religion. Most of which I am nowhere near educated on, so I would rather not delve deep on that subject.
The most important thing I think the New Year represents is the closing of a chapter in many people’s lives. A chapter we are all desperately ready to close. A chance to try again with a new strategy, like a gym membership that will likely self-expire in February. Or a resolution to be more orderly as we snooze every alarm we can because sleep is more preferable to reality. It could be a chance to set a big goal, with an easy-to-follow date of progress. You would be amazed at what can be accomplished in a year when you actually can track progress. Most of all the New Year represents a new future.
An opportunity to start again, once more, with feeling.
That is why I am setting personal goals aiming at this exact sort of outlook. It’s no secret that I have become less outgoing in the past few years When I first decided to write this blog, I had an idea of where I wanted to go with it, but was terrified of the idea of having to be involved with more people than I am normally comfortable with. Even the idea of trying to become active on social media was daunting.
At the time when I started, I was looking at a future where many of us stayed in our homes by choice, because social interaction was untenable at best. I was watching people in the grocery store being vile to one another over the smallest of disagreements. A piece of cloth should not be the absolute loss of what little chivalry we had left. I decided to call it out in a way that every side could understand. I threw it out into the void of Facebook and waited to see the response. I was amazed at the varied feedback from everyone. I enjoyed the small debates I got into in a public space. Something about the aikido of turning angry people into calm participants has always intrigued me.
And thus, this blog was born.
“A well adjusted person, is one who makes the same mistake twice without getting nervous”
-Alexander Hamilton
The response I had received from my friends, family, and associates made me realize that in order to achieve what I want, I would have to be able to navigate situations that I may not fully understand, in order to be able to help keep everyone on the boat. However, in order to do this, I have to actually be present with the ones I care about. I quite literally live in front of my computer, so it’s probably healthy for me to get away from my PC here and there.
That being said, my resolution for next year is to be a better friend, a better father, and a better member of my community. Which means spending more time with all of those that these goals will affect. It also means taking care of myself so that I can be around for a long enough time to plant a few seeds in the minds of others. I can no longer be a shut-in clamoring on the woes of humanity while doing my very best to avoid everyone. No, I will have to venture more into the public than I am normally comfortable with.
One of my biggest pet peeves these last two years is black-pilled people who do nothing but complain about how the world is ending. Those who would rather give up and hide in the mountains instead of just rolling up their sleeves and doing the part of helping restore some damn faith in people. It doesn’t have to be a giant ordeal to change someone’s thoughts or behaviors. If you can afford to take someone out to lunch, or even just a cup of coffee, then you have the power to make someone else’s day brighter than the one before. If everyone did that, the change could be exponential.
“What you aim at, determines what you see.”
-Jordan Peterson
So instead of focusing on the villains of our time, or crimes unpunished. Think about what would make your direct life a better experience. Even if it’s the smallest change imaginable, as long as it’s a positive direction, anything counts. It’s important to set a marker in the future of what life could be like if you built it a single brick at a time. Write it all down. Draw a crude picture of YOUR dream and pin it to the refrigerator. Spend every minute not complaining of the woes of the world, but stating what it is you want. Let that new desire become infectious to those around you. The more people with that sort of passion, the better. Look forward to a new chapter in your life. When that clock strikes twelve celebrate
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Then realize, it’s time to get back to work.
Thank you for reading,
-The Young Fool
