Another year is in the book. Who knows what 2022 will bring?
It seems as though anything would surely be possible or perhaps impossible. We have received many good wishes from friends and family over the past weeks that have hoped for us to have “a healthy and prosperous new year” or greetings of the like.
Do you remember the good old days when such greetings could be taken for granted in various degrees of appreciation. I mean, the thought is certainly there, but to me the game has changed, and significantly.
I have never been one to itemize a New Years’ resolution list of any description. Rather, I have tended to try to adhere to more conceptual generalizations that have always had various degrees of success. Try to get out for more walks in solitude. Try to avoid fatty foods or too much sugar…..that type of thing.
This year things are different. As my colleague Ingrid Abbott noted in her Dec. 23 column, the mental strain of the pandemic has been difficult to deal with for many of us, myself included. I, also like many others, have been resonate to explore the many options for help with mental health available to us, but I do make a decent attempt to talk about it with my family. I suppose that is at least something.
This year, I am hopeful to look at the world in a different way, and seek to feel attachments that have been less than traditional for me personally. The way we socialize, work, learn, and play, is in a state of flux and I am assuming that this semi chaotic realm will continue to frame the way we interact with each other for the foreseeable future.
To manage the chaos and change that we find ourselves mired in, I am going to take on concepts of “Occupational Therapy” in my daily routine in an attempt to detach myself from some difficult circumstance.
There are several themes that come to mind where moving an emotional burden off of our collective chests may lead to a new and happier existence.
Love. If you love someone that may not know you do, tell them, and tell them why. This will give you and the recipient of the message comfort and relief. For those who know you love them, tell them you love them more, way more.
Charity. There are many amongst us that need help. I am definitely going to help kids and families in Delta whom I know are struggling. I see it all the time. There are many organizations that we can collectively reach out to.
Hope. Put hope top of mind. Without it, despair will lurk in the shadows.
Please have a love filled, charitable and eternally hopeful 2022.
