A new year

OK, not an original title, but there it is. The new year looms large and blank. We have no idea what will happen, and the past few years have manged to shock even me. Things I had never considered have happened.  A black president, natural disasters, financial ruin for even wealthy investors. Well, some wealthy investors. I know this because since I’ve been doing CNA work I have been subjected to more daytime TV than any one person should ahve to bear. CNN and The Talk have been part of my daily life for a few years now. I don’t understand why anyone would willingly subject themselves to hour after hour of drivel and world catastrophe, but then, people have always done things I thought odd.

To get back on track, let’s think about the year coming. We can make some plans, but one thing I’ve learned…over and over..is that plans don’t always work out. Most of the time I’m shooting from the hip, flying by the seat of my pants, making it up as I go along-choose your cliché. Not for lack of planning, but lack of control over events like Nature, the people who own the company, my car’s engine…you get the idea. So this year, while I am still planning to leave in March to hike the Appalachian Trail, I’m just going to keep making as much art as I can, write as much as I can, and sleep wherever I have a place to sleep. I have gotten past expectations-of people and plans and the way The World Turns (daytime TV, I’m, telling you, it infects your brain…)

So, I’m letting go. A friend told me the other night to finish letting go-of my plans and my need to make enough money to buy food and gas and concentrate on making art, on allowing my creativity to mature and grow. We’ll see. I am, in truth, a pragmatist to the core. When things sound too romantic, too breezy, I tend to hunker down and wait, instead of running toward the bright blue horizon. Too many times I ended up flying off a cliff instead of just flying.

Happy New Year.

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