Saturday, January 07, 2017

New Year, New Thoughts

There’s a certain joy in waking up early. No sounds except the words in your head clamoring to get out.  It has been awhile since I blogged, or written for that matter, and 2017 is the year I take it up again.  Writing is like the tides that ebb and flow, and it seems now that the words are swelling up inside of me and ready to leap on the page.  Who knows what I will accomplish as a writer this year—the main thing is that I am writing after a long dry spell.

With a new year come promises to making ourselves better and accomplishing more in our lives.  For 2017 I have made some resolutions, four to be exact, and here they are in no specific order:

1) Find a boyfriend/husband;
2) Continue a healthy regime, add more cardio and muscle building;
3) Limit my time on social media, make posts and pictures more succinct;
4) Get my book I finished three years ago published

I could add one or two more, but four is a manageable number.  Being politically involved and keeping our politicians in check is too important to be a resolution and is part of my civic duty to keep the shenanigans of the Orange Man and his posse from destroying this country.  It is something we all should be involved in.

Finding a mate is something I’ve never prioritized, but I feel it’s time that I share my life with someone.  We aren’t getting any younger and this year I’m open to the idea of settling down.  My ideal man is Indian, so that’s what I’m manifesting. This year I’ll be spending a few months in India so this goal has some potential of working out. I’m open to men from other backgrounds too, as long as he’s stable (emotionally and financially, independent, and open). Let the hunt begin!

I consider the three important H’s in life are: Health, House, Husband.  I got the house (two actually) so in 2017 we’ll focus on the other two H’s.  More yoga, more healthy eating, toning this body of mine, etc.  A standard resolution many of us have, so you know what I’m talking about.

Social media is a bit out of control in our lives.  Why I would say it dominates a large portion of our days.   I feel the need to minimalize my time on Facebook and the rest, and limit pictures and posts about the mundane.  While I do lead a very interesting life compared to many people online, I feel like taking a step back and making posts more succinct. Can I get through 2017 without posting a food photo? No that’s a challenge.

I wrote the book about my work with Afghans, some of which I may post here on my blog, but it needs an edit job and then get published.  Most likely I’ll self-publish initially, but hopefully it’ll take off and be picked up by a publisher down the road.  We don’t write to be famous authors, we write because we have stories to share.  It’s time for me to share this.
2017 will start in the U.S. on a murky note with the inauguration of most likely the worst president of our lifetimes and plunge this country, and the world, into four years of horrible leadership.  I’ve tried to see the silver linings in all of this but as we approach January 20th, there’s no way of seeing anything optimistic about a Trump presidency.  Leadership is something I teach to young people all over the world.  We look at qualities of effective and ineffective leaders, and search inside ourselves to find our leadership qualities.  For the next four years we have to live with poor leadership in the White House and in Congress, and I will hold the people who represent me in government accountable to ensuring checks and balances continue to work, and the Orange Man is kept in his corner where he can do little harm (well as minimal as possible). 

I have spent most of my life overseas and I have come to understand why America is a great country.  It isn’t that chest-beating, ignorant great that stupid white people declare it to be, it is still the land of the free, where you can come and be who you want and do whatever you wish (within constraints of the law of course) and fulfill those dreams of yours.  The rest of the world looks to America as a beacon of hope, a higher ideal to strive for.  After the elections in November, people in Senegal told me that now America is just like the rest of the world. That was a sad comment, but true.  We can still be great and we will continue to be great, but we need to fight for that greatness.  I’m going to fight the ignorance and fear held by many Americans, the intolerance and unfounded hatred of diversity, and educate people and encourage them to keep their minds open. 

So, that’s it for my first posting for 2017. There’s more to come, maybe not every day but now on a regular basis. I leave you with a New Year’s poem by W.S. Merwin.

To the New Year
With what stillness at last
you appear in the valley
your first sunlight reaching down
to touch the tips of a few
high leaves that do not stir
as though they had not noticed
and did not know you at all
then the voice of a dove calls
from far away in itself
to the hush of the morning

so this is the sound of you
here and now whether or not
anyone hears it this is
where we have come with our age
our knowledge such as it is
and our hopes such as they are
invisible before us
untouched and still possible


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