On the Chinese calendar, 2025 was the Year of the Snake, and it really did slither by—sometimes fast, sometimes painfully slow—but either way, it’s now come and gone.
That brings us to our annual Year in Review, a tradition we’ve kept alive for more than 20 years. The good, the bad, and the ugly. What we lost, what stood out, the best and the worst of it all—and yes, our daring prognostications for the year ahead, along with a look back at what we predicted for this one.
We’re all feeling a bit bleak right now. Let’s hope things get a little less Slytherin in ’26.
My father always used his birthday to explain something to me. He would tell me to picture a yard stick–during his adventurous years he would actually get one out as a prop. Normally he’d just point to a certain part of the measurement and say “I am here..” And you would see as the years go on, less and less of that yard stick remained.
It’s always good to be on the low end of that measurement–the measurement of life itself. You have plenty to live for until your final moment on this planet, but those final moments happen every single second of every single day.
The luxury of youth is that you have time. At least you think you do–soon everyone learns the hard way that time is limited and runs out faster than one would assume.
We get busy trying to fast forward those bad moments.. And then we realize it all went by so fast. Just like the movie CLICK with Adam Sandler. Thankfully he was able to wake up from his nightmare in Bed Bath and Beyond before he ruined it all..
So many of us are busy CLICKing away on TikTok.. Social media. Things that add nothing but noise and clutter in our brains.. All the while the second hand on the clock keeps running like a cruel Energizer bunny of fate..
So with that, 2022 clicked away. We ran out of time. Some of more than others…
x x x
2022 was not filled with true love but instead rampant confusion. It all went too fast to even grasp some of the moment were found ourselves in.
Let’s use 2023 to perfect what seemed to be lacking in 2022.
As we all reach the end of our yardsticks, let’s try to finally realize that meaning of life..
We opened the vault! Our predictions made back in 2021 were finally evaluated.. The exhaustive deep concentration we phase into on an annual basis is back as well.
Before we move on to the top ten prognostications for 2023, let’s go back and see how we fared with 2022 ..
So here is what we said would happen in normal text. BOLD text is written to review our predictions. We looked in the mirror and had a burst of self-reflection.
The predictions for ’22.. sealed in the HORROR REPORT vault until the final week of December 2022 when we will unveil how we did, along with new predictions for 2023.
The midterm elections are going to be disastrous for Democrats nationwide. While there may a few bright spots such as a Senate race or Governor’s race in Pennsylvania, the Senate will go solidly red and so will the House. Joe Biden’s presidency will suddenly feature a crucial test: Pull the Clinton 1990s strategy of triangulation or go the most progressive route. He will triangulate in 2023 before announcing he will not run for reelection—but we will save the rest of that prediction to December 2022. Ok.. so we were right about PA! Both the Senate and Governor went Democratic. But we were wrong about how disastrous it would be. Democrats held the Senate and then, in the end, lost the House by an edge… Biden already went the triangulation route. That was so 2000 and late.
Gas prices will reach $4.10 a gallon on average by Memorial Day 2022. We were right. Sorta. But wrong. It went high. But even higher than we thought. Memorial Day 2022 had an average of $4.77… We can count this as a win.
This is broad.. but it’s how we feel: There will be massive advancements of robotics in replacing human workforces in 2022. Even more than before. Along with that a huge increase in the use of crypto currency. The markets will become less of a place to make loads of cash, but more of a place to replace cash with new forms of online digital payments. Governments will hail this possibility as a way to regulate underground cash payments in economic sectors that are untaxed. Eh.. so-so prediction, this was an easy way out. It was too broad. We will NOT judge accordingly.
COVID-19 will become endemic. It will not go away, but Omicron will pave the way for normalcy. There is going to be a massive surge of cases in the United States and globe in January through potentially March. Just as quick as the cases rise they will fall. Hospitalizations will never reach the capacity they did during Delta. As a result of the dramatic herd immunity, vaccine rates will fall and will cause a briefer but serious autumn surge. It will pave the way for an endemic virus that will become seasonal from this point on. Vaccine rates have fallen. People are treating it as endemic.. and LOTS of people are getting COVID as we write this but death rates are not seemingly soaring.. SO maybe .. just maybe, we are learning to “live with COVID” ??
Things don’t reopen again after 9 or 10pm. Through the COVID experience, understaffed businesses have ditched the late night model or 24/7 hours. At times that has been a hinderance. But it will continue. Staffing issues will continue through the year and changing economic times will place us back a few decades when it comes to the old “blue laws.” We did not go blue but yes, this was an issue.. We have not recovered from the great 2020 blues. Instead we close early.. Half-win since things are still open on Sundays.
The economic changes in 2022 will be voluminous. Along with gas prices as predicted in number 2, we are going to have a stock market “correction” that at times will look like a tragedy. Inflation will be constant.. a large number of people will just cease looking for employment. Yes to all. And even more, the textbooks on economics are being re-written because of the time we are in. The old rules don’t apply anymore.
Joe Biden will continue to push school loan payments off until after the November election. At that point due to the sea change of Republican victories, total school loan forgiveness will not occur and repayments will begin again around the end of December 2022 or the beginning of January 2023. Yes! Agreed.. in part. The delay of school loan repayments occurred again, but courts struck down forgiveness. We will however claim victory on this prediction.
Americans will replace privacy with security. Over the past year, we have shed our fears of technology.. at one time people who said that wellness chips would be inserted under the skin were conspiracy theorists. In 2022 those theorists are going to be proven to be accurate… Another easy way out prediction. We win. But there was no denying this would occur..
It will be the hottest year on record. The months of June through September will be particularly cruel. the fall will be nonexistent. And by winter we will wonder if it will ever snow on Christmas again.. Well… June was one of the hottest on record. But we lost.. 2022 has been the sixth-warmest year on record from January through August, with a global average temperature 1.55 degrees higher than the 20th-century average. Of the annual records, 2016 remains the warmest.. And Christmas 2022 ended up being one of the coldest in history for much of the nation.
Space: There will be something big. It could come in the form of an announcement about life on another planet, a distant moon, or ancient Martian life. It could also come in the form of an announcement of a foreboding space rock that NASA will need to try pushing out of the way of the planet… Depending on who you listen to.. maybe? Great year for James Webb photographs.. but nothing really earth shattering in the announcement department. So .. maybe next year. Disclosure just HAS to be coming soon, right!?
All that 2022 stuff aside.. the year has ended. It’s time to move on!!! 2023 is upon us. And with it comes predictions on what we are about to face… For better or worse.
The Ukraine/Russia war will drag on until about April or May.. at that time serious discussions will occur to bring a truce. This will be inspired by House Republicans becoming increasingly reluctant to give more aid to Zelenskky.. Russia may end up getting a piece carved from Ukraine for its territory as a result. Before that occurs there will be at least 2 or 3 potentials that it develops into what looks like World War III..
Before said war comes to a truce, an atrocity will occur in Ukraine. It will cause global outrage, but will not cause world leaders to intervene despite the horrors the world sees..
2023 will be a troubling year for world figures. At least 3 or more world leaders will succumb to their fate. It could be Putin. It could be Biden, It could be the Pope. Troublesome events will emerge in some nations.
We are banking on a Papal change, and with it ‘the end.’ That was predicted by old prophecy.. Peter the Roman would be last. That does not mean the Church and the Pope are gone forever, it means something weird and new happens. A great new schism of modern time may be upon us.
There will be serious litigation considered about how to reign in AI art. It is busy stealing copyrighted images.. it is creating a strange legal conundrum. Who do you prosecute. How. And when. The future is happening faster than law can keep up with it. When the first AI art gets to court, there is a good chance the judge won’t even understand the concept of what is being dealt with!
Inflation will ease–slightly. But also will be a total collapse of certain markets. Automobiles, housing, and pensions will have a bad 2023. Bright silver linings will emerge. A new economy is coming. But so many parts of the old will die first and cause true economic pain in 2023.
COVID lockdowns are a thing of the past. But we will be sicker and as a whole more and more ‘sudden deaths’ will occur. Living with COVID will mean living with a weaker immune system, more disease, and more snake oil salesmen. We think we are ready to ‘live with COVID’ mentally, but physically we will be living with stronger viruses and less viral and bacterial medication. Life expectancy will drop either in 2023 or 2024 as a result.
House Republicans will attempt to launch investigations of the Biden Administration. Everything will just be a mess. Few legislative *if any* victories will be had by either part due to a divided legislative branch.
Everything will seem unstable. Institutions. Governments. Banks. Jobs. Everything we have come to accept will look weird as events change quickly.
Space travel will be filled with hope.. until it is not. Events will occur that will make Mars and even Moon explorations look implausible in 2023.
The biggest news event(s) of 2022 are about one subject: NUCLEAR good. NUCLEAR bad.
Let’s be positive first.. Nuclear was good this year! The Department of Energy announced a scientific breakthrough in nuclear fusion this week, marking a major step toward developing a new, sustainable form of energy that releases virtually no carbon dioxide or other types of air pollution. So fusion went from science fiction to .. reality! Then the bad. Vlad the Impaler Putin and Ukraine are at war–whether it is a proxy war or war for the soul of the Russian people there is a way. And with it a constant threat of nuclear weapons being deployed or a nuclear facility being bombed. The best of times and hopes.. the worst of times and nope.
Which nuclear path will the planet pick?
The movie of the year: A BATMAN lurks…
Robert Pattison played his finest role! The film was an epic battle of good vs evil, a crime story about a dark and sinister Riddler who murders his way through Gotham City. The film was beautifully made with amazing dialogue and suspense.
In our world, this was the MOVIE of the year, no matter what others or the Academy says.
HORROR MOVIE OF THE YEAR
This was a great year for horror–really good movies to pick from. That is not sarcasm .. So we shied away from the WINNIE THE POOH BLOOD AND HONEY horror and picked something much better: BLACK PHONE.
It was the most watchable movie of the year.. set in the 70s, a kidnapper abducts children who become victims of his horrible crimes.
Until he meets the wrong kid who finally is able to listen to the black phone calls–with an ending dramatic and as ‘feel good justice’ as anything could offer.
We know many will not like the pick.. but BLACK PHONE was the best of 2022..
Netflix of the year…THIS was tough. Mad Max wins
The best Netflix of the year was not what you think. STRANGER THINGS 4 was epic in a sense–epically long and also somewhat epically clumsy. The Duffers Brothers gave us SO much since we waited so long, and for that we should obviously be appreciative.
But also with the long running length of Stranger Things 4, there was much to sadly forget.
Except one particular episode with struck such a chord with people that it was able to bring back a song into the modern lexicon of popularity.
Enter Dear Billie–this was episode 4 of the season. Max Mayfield had to confront her demons and face Vecna head on in the upside down. It was one of the most remarkable episodes of a show ever–and could be the single greatest episode of all four seasons of Stranger Things.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GIx1VjcfCk0
Netflix Runner up: Wednesday Addams rocked..
Jenna Ortego was amazing as Wednesday Addams. As a matter of fact, the show was a surprise little hit that had just as many views on Netflix as Stranger Things. Tim Burton came back strong with a funny, satirical, crime drama. Along with Thing and Uncle Fester..
Song of the year
Thanks to Dear Billie, the greatest Netflix show of the year, we also were treated to round two of a song that many came to forget existed!
Kate Bush’s 80s hit RUNNING UP THAT HILL was used as the main theme of Mad Max in Dear Billie. Max used that exact song to save her own life–and when she did it caught on like wildfire.
Kate Bush is private in her world–but she is a Stranger Things fan and have permission to use this song. For her sake she should be glad she did, word is that she earned well over $2 mil in profits from a renewed popularity of Running up that Hill..
DANCE OF THE YEAR
Say no more.. Wednesday wins another round. Coupled with the Lady Gaga song as background, it became a hit.
CRINGIEST NETFLIX OF THE YEAR
One of the most popular shows was also the ickiest: DAHMER on Netflix. The fascinating and well-made drama about the life and times of Jeffrey Dahmer became a hit. So much so that more shows just like it will be made.
But many felt just a little weird watching it because of just how well made and realistic it was.
Those with a conscious got a shower after each episode–and definitely didn’t eat a snack during it.
The dumbest MASSIVE news event of 2022: The slap heard around the world.
WALL TO WALL coverage.. multiple news cycles. Apology videos.. celebrity responses. We had it all during the Academy Awards in 2022–no one cared who won best picture (most likely because no one ever watches the best picture) but we sure cared about a Hollywood Drama: The slap heard around the world!
Will Smith ‘defending his wife’ slapped Chris Rock.. and we all took a side.
And life went on.
Mandela Effect of the year: The immediate mis-remembering of the slap heard around the world
It was the slap heard around the world–and seen. But did we mis-remember the scene within a day!?
Mandela Effects are tricky. Lots of people believe science will constantly disprove them. Others who live in Berenstein land think it is a huge scandalous conspiracy of conflicting timelines.
Either way lots of controversy immediately arose from the Smith Rock affair..
Lots of other people remember Chris Rock saying a Oh here comes king Richard right when he was about to get slapped by Will Smith but now he doesn’t say that it’s changed within minutes.
Our favorite Mandela Effected Youtuber Moneybags 73 quickly was on the case!
Distraction of the year
It was the only thing that seemed to matter for several months–and then it just stopped mattering. John C. Depp, II v. Amber Laura Heard was a trial held in Fairfax County, Virginia, from April 11 to June 1, 2022, that ruled on allegations of defamation between formerly married American actors Johnny Depp and Amber Heard. That trial gave us months of memes.. oddities. Strange testimony. Tears. Odd laughter. Everything that Tinseltown had to offer Fairfax County Virginia..
In the end Johnny Depp won. And maybe, just maybe, we all lost..
PERSON of the year
The one.. the only.. Elon Musk.
He was controversial. People hated him. Others loved him. He asked if he should quit as the CEO and said he would when he finds someone foolish.. And he re-instated Donald Trump.
All of that within weeks of owning Twitter..
But he seems to equal mayhem as well.
Time magazine used to choose the most important person of the year. Now they mostly virtue signal. So we pick up where they left off.
Elon Musk seems to be the most important person of the year.. And if nothing else, he was the most interesting..
The fall of Kanye West. Or P Diddy. Or .. Ye. Or all.
He appeared on INFOWARS and defended Hitler. Even Alex Jones had to disagree with this brand of insanity..
BIGGEST DEBT OF THE YEAR
Speaking of Alex Jones.. he is now into the trillions in court decisions against him in various legal battles with the families of Sandy Hook.
However his show goes on each day ..
Artist of the year
You may not have heard of her.. but you may in the future. Gamazda is a Russian musician who just makes miracles happen when she sits behind a piano. Gamazda’s real name is Alexandra Kuznetsova. She is from Moscow, Russia, and was born on April 20th in 1991. She started playing the piano when she was only three years old ..
One of the biggest songs of the year, thanks to Stranger Things season 4 was Master of Puppets. She even did that one.. and wow.. did she ever. Follow her for more!
Truth Teller of the year
With over 6 million subscribers on Youtube, there is something unbiased and refreshing about Russel Brand.
From COVID to politics to scandal, Brand has a refreshing perspective on news and events and adds a spiritual reflection..
AI art of the year
It does not get creepier than Loab. We don’t think. At least we hope. AI art is in full swing.. but when AI art starts to create a person based on random sayings, it gets weird. GO away Loab.. go away.
BIKE ACCIDENT OF THE YEAR
Joe Biden is an active man for his age! Unfortunately there was a moment that showcased a brief lapse in strength of the Commander in Chief. He heroically (and slowly) drive up to a group of people.. and quickly fell off the bike for a dozen cameras. Various angles showcased his flop to the ground.
Most monumental legal moment of the year
Roe vs Wade was overturned by a largely conservative Supreme Court. The decision leaked out in the early part of the year — and when it did both sides of the debate ramped up their information war.
Now states decide the course of action on the issue.
And largely the Republican sweep in Congress that would have occurred during the MidTerms were most likely held at bay from livid voters who were enraged that something that was legal for much of their lives ..
A MONKEYPOX ON BOTH YOUR HOUSES OF THE YEAR
Monkey pox–or whatever global officials have decided to name it–was set to become a new pandemic. Despite early fears it did not seem to hit the planet in the same way that COVID did, but yet still caused misery to those affected.
Another oddity involving monkeys took place in Danville Pennsylvania earlier this year. During a strange event, an accident on a highway took place involving monkeys being transported to a research center for the government.. monkeys escaped, and one passerby who thought she was about to help some felines in the cold was attacked. What took place was an hours-long odyssey that captivated locals and became international news.
Rumors abounded.. but in the end no correlation between this and monkeypox was found. So they tell us.. 😉
Kim Yo Jong helps her brother, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, sign a joint statement following a summit with South Korean President Moon Jae-in in Pyongyang, North Korea, on Sept. 19, 2018.
Didn’t we just do this?
No .. seriously.. didn’t we just have a 2021 year in review? Actually wasn’t it the 2020?
All of this is just blurring together in a sea of madness and confusion! The months add up fasters than days at times. Even those longer moments of your existence seem to just fly by in a blaze of glory. Or an inglorious bastard..
2022 is fascinating in the way it transpired.. it was labeled with hope and but was buttoned up in the end with confusion. There was little purpose or theme to the meandering of time.
After all, let’s consider it.. In 2020 when the ‘world changed’ we knew how it did. FOR THE WORSE.. shutdowns and pandemic fears became so viral than the virus itself stopped being scary, but our behavior and responses to it and each other became even more dangerous..
2021’s new ‘story’ was about hope and change–the year began with that riot at the Capitol and continued with vaccine fever: The only way to get back to normal, we were told, was to be jabbed. And rejabbed. And post-jabbed.
So in 2022 things were meant to be alright, right? The kids.. the adults. We were all supposed to be alright. But nothing seems alright.
As a matter of fact, the economy just seems shaky. Inflation is beyond anything we have seen–people can argue about whether it is corporate greed or government overreach. Either way it hurts. And COVID? Yea.. that’s back. In case you did not notice, it appears the triple boosted just can’t stop catching it. None of it was supposed to be like this, right?
Meanwhile nuclear Armageddon seems like, with a chance of meatballs.
THIS is our 2022 reality. Just a sea of high strangeness in the middle of multiple stretches of lands of confusion.
We may have made it through. But many of us may be better off asking for a refund..
This is the most fun time of year. Sometimes in years’ in review past, we gloated about how right we were.. Movies that were Oscar worthy.. presidents who acclaimed victory. Twenty years into this we got a lot right.
When we made out 2020 predictions at the end of 2019, we could not have been MORE wrong. Just about every single thing stated ended up being …. awfully and substantially wrong…
And as we make our 2021 prognostications, remember just has awful our 2020 outlay was… and judge accordingly.
Donald Trump will easily win his reelection in the electoral college but soundly lose the popular vote. There may be early polls indicating his demise.. there could be some excitement around Democrats in the summer.. but we will end the year with Trump causing the second biggest political earthquake of modern times… EASILY!? Not even close. This was the first of many tremendously awful picks for 2020 ..
Bernie Sanders—yes, I am saying it–will be the Democratic nominee for President. He will choose Andrew Yang as his VP nominee.Perhaps this wild card would have actually LOST!? Not even close .. Maybe Yang will hav a shot as Mayor or NYC, but no where near what we thought.
2020 Olympic games in Tokyo: The United States will still reign.. but China will come very close on the heels of the great American empire in the gold medal race. Another massive loss. THERE WERE NO OLYMPICS!
Brexit. It will happen. And it will be chaos at least for the first few months. It did.. but chaos was an understaetment.
5G is coming. 5G will change everything. Maybe 20 years from now it will increase cancer rates, but in the mean time it will increase speed of the net delivery. It didn’t do much. Instead fears over it may have caused the Christmas morning bombing in Nashville.
Robots will continue taking over..DING DING.. finally one right.
Social media will start to wane slowly in popularity.. It is not that we had too much, it is more that the alpha generation has just never accepted social media in its internet forte. Expect the new generation to ditch the social media norms .. But never give up the net. Nope…
STRANGER THINGS 4 will become the biggest Netflix show ever released.. Its debut will coincide with the US Election, and experts will lament that people stayed home from polls in favor of watching the series. For real… another stinker. Not even a chance of anything winning.
The New England Patriots will win Super Bowl LIV No comment………
Mass shootings will continue. We will be overwhelm with horror and heartache as gun violence continues across the United States. Thankfully this was wrong. But yet again, another prediction dreadfully wrong.
PREDICTIONS FOR 2021..let’s see how we do when we rate this in the late December 2021 vault. Locked away until then…
We are going on the record..in
3 2.. 1…..
The bright and shiny future of Joe Biden. While some may say he has a tumultuous first term, we are going out on a limb and saying his first year *and maybe term* will be uniquely successful. Joe Biden is not someone Americans can easily hate. People will rally around him in the spring and summer of 2021. While this is WAY out on a limb, the typical first term midterm blues Presidents face will not happen to him, as people will see him as successful as beating the coronavirus in the United States.
Lock downs and wasted time. COVID-19 will continue to assault our way of life throughout 2021.. And it will not be until 2022 when a semblance of normal returns..
Democrats will continue winning.. this time in Georgia. They will gain the Senate seat and be on their way to a future majority.
Racial harmony may not be perfect, but this year will see a re imagining of race relations. It will be clear that for America to persist as a strong nation, people need to strongly commit to racial justice. That will occur.. eventually. And begin in 2021.
Major world figures will perish. Potentially and a Pope and A Queen. And BTS will join in with the Weekend to do the Super Bowl half time show.
People who suffered from COVID-19 will begin to display strange symptoms that will seem bizarre, but are just signs that once you get the virus, you have it and its effects for the rest of your life.
Massive widespread hackings will occur and past hackings will become clear. Every single person’s identity in the world will effectively be seen as compromised.
The 2020 Olympics, postponed until 2021, will feature no live audience. Just TV.. China will overtake the UK in medals. Ratings will plummet
Movie theaters are dead. . . AMC and Regal will have a difficult time regaining audiences and eventually will succumb to pressures…. The world has changed thanks to WONDER WOMAN 1984.
The vaccine, though filled with hope, will either be mostly ineffective or people will refuse taking it. Instead a painful herd immunity will occur… The death toll of COVID-19 will far outweigh the known 1918 virus, and will kill over 950,000 in the United States and 2.9 million people by the end of December 2021.
And that is that.
Sealed and maybe not approved…
2021 will be a mixed bag. Jokes aged bad in 2020. They will age worse in ’21 …
This year has been tragic.. SO many lost.. so many to mourn. It started quickly after 2020 began and seemingly never stopped since then…
Neil Peart of Rush dead of brain cancer at 67 in Los Angeles …
The actor’s mother, Jane Badler, confirmed Harry Hains died at the age of 27. He was an actor in AMERICAN HORROR STORY and the OA
Jim Lehrer, the retired PBS anchorman who for 36 years gave public television viewers a substantive alternative to network evening news programs with in-depth reporting, interviews and analysis of world and national affairs, died on Thursday at his home in Washington. He was 85.
Dead in a helicopter crash.. RIP Kobe Bryant #RIP
Kirk Douglas, the son of a ragman who channeled a deep, personal anger through a chiseled jaw and steely blue eyes to forge one of the most indelible and indefatigable careers in Hollywood history, died Wednesday. He was 103.
Mad Mike Hughes was his name. Flat earth was his game. He set out to prove the truth. Hughes, a self-styled daredevil, flat-Earth theorist and limousine stuntman, died when his jury-rigged contraption propelled him on a column of steam, spiraled through the air and cratered into the sagebrush outside Barstow, California. He was 64.
Eddie Van Halen.. dead in ’20
Jeremy Bulloch, who played the role of Boba Fett in the original Star Wars trilogy, died Dec. 17 at age 75 following health complications, including several years living with Parkinson’s disease.
Longtime Jeopardy! host Alex Trebek died Nov. 8 at age 80 following a battle with stage 4 pancreatic cancer
Sean Connery, the Scotland-born actor who was the first star to play James Bond and became one of the franchise’s most iconic stars, died at the age of 90 on Oct. 31
Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg died Sept. 18 at the age of 87 from complications of metastatic pancreas cancer.
On July 24, icon TV talk show host, singer, and media personality, Regis Philbin, died from a heart attack in his home
WWE is saddened to learn that Jon Huber, known to WWE fans as Luke Harper, died at the age of 41..
In 2020, so many deaths.. so much COVID. The New York TIMES did a front page story when the death toll hit 100,000.. since then the number dramatically soared above..
All those memes and jokes about the “worst year in history” are now behind. Suddenly people are social media blitzing their profile pictures and stories with happy and hopeful messages. Clearing out that dreaded ’20 from our sight and moving forward with open eyes to ’21..
We have done this before, as humanity.
This yearly ritual of desperation to end the morbid year we are in, and a new profound hope for the months to come.
With each New Years Eve kiss that turns into a drunken slobber fest after Midnight, we strike the usual tone. Year in and year out.
For as much as we want the time to change, we get stuck in our ways. We don’t change at all, don’t adjust.. don’t do anything much to lose weight, and decry the ‘terrible new year’ we are stuck in come February and March.
Heck sometimes even late January..
But maybe this time it will in fact be different.
2020 was a year made up of terrible mixtures of awful and perfect things. Working at home brought us closer to family and friends, but somehow made us distant from neighbors and loved ones who were the most dear to us before lockdowns. It was filled with unprecedented death and heart ache, but yet joys and moments of inspiration.
For every drop of tear gas fired into crowds, there were tears of love at new life, new love, and equal amounts at the bedsides of those passing away from a rampant virus. For most, window-side as we were not allowed in to see loved ones during the most wrenching moment in a life..
2020 was unfair. And just. 2020 was the best of times. And yes clearly it contained the worst of times.
Some may argue that the new year and celebrations about it are pointless. That they don’t matter..
If it does not matter why did humanity take to the traditions so early? There has to be something special, no?
It wasn’t always filled with love and splendor of course.
In the year 46 B.C.E. the Roman emperor Julius Caesar first established January 1 as New Year’s day.
Janus was the Roman god of doors and gates, and had two faces, one looking forward and one back. Caesar felt that the month named after this god (“January”) would be the appropriate “door” to the year. Caesar celebrated the first January 1 New Year by ordering the violent routing of revolutionary Jewish forces in the Galilee. BLOOD flowed in the streets.
In later years, Roman pagans observed the New Year by engaging in drunken orgies—a ritual they believed constituted a personal re-enacting of the chaotic world that existed before the cosmos was ordered by the gods.
x x x
We are all in the mood for a deep breath, now. A recovery.. not from hustle and bustle, but rather more of a recovery from everything else.
525,600 minutes 525,000 moments so dear 525,600 minutes How do you measure, measure a year? In daylights, in sunsets, in midnights, in cups of coffee In inches, in miles, in laughter, in strife..
We had the experiencing of all of them in am amplified way in 2020.
So here’s a cup of hope… maybe 2021 will actually be better. Maybe it will be a positive experience for humanity.
Indeed, a cup of hope for the new year. But is that cup half full.. or half empty?
The eyes of the beholder will get a bird’s eye view in 2021.
The final few days of shopping are here..
The last chances to wrap gifts..
Tis the season for small annoyances, like bad traffic or office Christmas parties where someone you never expected would get a bit too tipsy, or offensive. I have often thought that often co-workers (sometimes family, too), aren’t people you pick. They aren’t friends. They are necessary. You may like some.. but chances are, if you’re at a party of 50, you’ll really want to associate with just four or five.
Nonetheless, at a gathering just days ago of people, I noted several conversations were about attempts to get better health in the new year, be happier, eat right, and cut down on the luxuries and lushness of life. All this being said while food was in one hand and alcohol in the other..
I am perplexed yearly by this notion that December 31 into January 1 will suddenly equal a burst of health, weight loss, and better moods. By the second week of January, when the bills start coming in and researchers say “Blue Monday” hits, we are already ditching the yearly get rich or well quick schemes, and replacing them with the bad habits all over again.
But maybe that is because the actual attempts are wrong to begin with.
The end of a year and the beginning of a new one is sort of the same as how parts of the earth feel this time of year, as well. The cyclical nature of seasons and time—we are one with the planet and quite possibly one with the feelings of the season. Sorry to go pagan, but maybe even the natural phases of the moon and sun, along with the Solstices, deserve a party! Minus the human sacrifices of ancient Yule time.
My point is, trying to change habits at this time of year is fine. It’s the end of a year. Again. Another 12 months, 525,600 minutes behind us, and a whole new 12 months of anarchy on the way..
But what habits are you trying to break? And why..?
“I want to be healthier.”
Fine and cool. It is not bad to be healthy.. But think before you drink. I love the idea that “wine may be good for my heart.” I’m no doctor, but I know the dangers of alcohol when used in excess. And while the skin of grapes could have benefits, so does dark chocolate. Oh, and skin of grapes—meaning you can actually eat grapes as opposed to drinking fermented versions of the product..
“I want to lose weight.”
So quick diets and fad trends are imposed on your body. You don’t react as you’d expect in two weeks, and you give it. Weight loss takes time. It took a while to gain it, you surely won’t lose it faster. So if you’re serious about losing weight, just realize you may get a quick hit of ten pounds if you’re really overweight, then it will become stagnant. If you’re closer to normal, you may lose very weight at all but could gain muscle if done the right way…and muscle has weight, so your scale could stay the same.
“I want a new job.”
Don’t we all sometimes? Before you get on a new job bandwagon, make a “why I hate my job list.” Then make a “why I have it okay at my job list.” And be honest, include everything, like 401K or pension, free parking, health insurance. See which list has more. Afterwards critically think about what you put. If hatred of your co-workers made the “Why I hate my job list,” go back and read some Yoda. Fear equal hate. Hate equals war.
Be brave and be honest. Trying to get a better job is not a bad thing. But never do something simply based off of hate. You’ll make the wrong decision every time.
My advice for this time of year.. Use the force. It’s all around you. Close your eyes…wait…I saw STAR WARS too many times.
or did I?
The ‘force’ may not only be strong for the Jedi, but it could be real..
You could be a part of something far greater than yourself. A universe that goes on forever and somehow is connected in strange ways by invisible math and physics. It’s a great time to be alive, with advanced discoveries that are beautiful and making life better. Yes there is loathsome fear and terror, as we talked about on here several times over the past few weeks, but don’t give into it. Do not let fear guide you. Embrace fear.
A few years ago when I had to give a public speech to a group of 700 people, I did something remarkable. It changed me forever. Up until that point I Was scared to death of public speaking. It’s when I realized that my entire life was made up of public speaking that the fear started to dwindle. I was a waiter since 16. I addressed crowds of 8 to 50 people on a regular basis, even made an open mic speech to a wedding party of 200 naming dessert choices. So public speaking was the simple part.. the hard part was figuring out that if you just do it and stop thinking so much, you’ll be fine. I embraced the fear and actually let it consume me for a moment, I purposely even tried making myself more fearful of the event. At that point, it left me.
Was I still a bit nervous? Yes. Was I filled with trembling fear anymore? Not even close..
Fear about the future is a strange thing, after all.
Consider this: The future is not real, it did not happen, and there is no proof of what is coming. The only thing real is now. Even the past may not be real anymore since it stopped existing. The second of time you stand in, however, is undeniable.
So fearing the future is insane. You’re fearing something that did not occur, that is not here, and that is not year coming to fruition.
Stop fearing.
And on that note, the real new years’ resolution you should strictly maintain:
Be you. Stop hating. Your hating is equaling worse things. It’s creating a worse world. It’s making things bleak. It’s ruining children’s futures. It’s stopping progress. And it’s forcing you to be cemented in ideologies that are failed and ones that should be long gone.
Believe me, I have never been accused of being an optimist.
But I equally have never defined myself as a pessimist. I am a realistic, sometimes nervous and paranoid, conspiracy-theory loving (not always believing) observer of society. From my own personal circle of friends and family to the world as a whole, I sit back and often watch.
My resolution: in 2016 I plan on watching less and doing more..
The next time a fight breaks out at a mall, and I know who is at fault, I will make sure I speak up.
Fear is not an option.
In 2016, neither is silence.
