And here we are, 366 days later. Another First of January. Another blank slate.
Last year in this space, I wrote a piece called “Preface” that was intentionally intended to be the preface of a book that became A Declaration of Peace. This year I am not as clear about how to start.
The beginning of the year lends itself to new beginnings, and new beginnings are wonderful and hopeful and exciting and joyful. But continuing is also important.
I started a thread last Jan. 1 that became a book about how war is a crime and that we should be declaring peace to one another, not declaring war. I want to build on the momentum of that message: Love your neighbor, and everyone you meet is your neighbor.
So: Peace, love and understanding. What else?
In a world where a movie called Godzilla Minus One can be one of the most beautiful love stories ever committed to film, it’s imperative to look for beauty in the most unlikely places. You never know when peace can break out just when you least expect it. Find love — and if you can’t find it anywhere, reach inside and pull it out of your heart.
“What the World Needs Now is Love” is a song written and recorded 60 years ago, and it is still “Now.” The world needs love, not just for some but for everyone — again, because everyone is a neighbor.
Let’s fill this blank slate with “I love yous.”
So: Peace, love and understanding. What else?
“Preface” was the 1,249th consecutive daily post I prepared for this space. The year 2025 begins with the 1,615th. I probably make too big a deal about that streak, and I commit the sin of pride when I think about it. I don’t believe I have accomplished anything else for 1,615 consecutive days in a life that has seen more than 26,000 days to date, so I guess it is a pretty big deal.
So: Peace, love, understanding, and try to show up every day. What else?
When you say something to someone, mean it.
Tell the truth, even when it hurts. Your lies will be discovered sooner or later, and you won’t like what happens when they are.
Take care of your pets. They are a lifetime commitment. How you treat the animals in your care defines you to others in ways that can’t be expressed.
You know that familiar question, “Where do you want to be in five years?” I just looked back at my blog posts to see where I was five years ago.
It turns out I didn’t write anything for Jan. 1, 2020. The streak was still eight months in my future. But on Dec. 31, 2019, I wrote about a theme I would later recognize in the DNA of Godzilla Minus One: In the face of death, live!
And live like crazy, the way Ray Bradbury wrote about living, as I quoted:
“To live at the top of your lungs, your genetics, the rambling and incoherent half-awake, half-asleep dreams just before dawn, or in the morning shower, or on your pillow during afternoon naps. To NOT KNOW what you’re doing but find out in the doing. To always be surprised and never damn or turn away from surprise. To love life while surrounded by so much that is annihilation. To answer, as I did one night not long ago at a lecture, when asked, ‘Why do you write so much about death? To which I said, ‘Because I am alive.’”
OK. The slate is no longer blank. The year 2025 is underway for real. Here we go. In some ways it looks just like 2024, but make no mistake, it’s becoming its own year second by second, minute by minute.
Isn’t this great? And if it isn’t, how can we make it so?
