New Years 2011

So I usually take time on New Year's Day to talk about the past year, marking the highs and lows. Then dictating what I hope to accomplish in the coming year.

And while I am all for listing your hopes/goals on paper, I am not going to do that.

Instead, I am gonna be honest. You may have seen my previous post about how I love snow and the holidays...In short, I love what they represent: family, friendship and fun.

With that in mind, I always find New Year's Day a bit depressing. It's definitely bittersweet, as it marks the culmination (read: end) of my absolute favorite time of year.

While there will be parties and dinners with family and friends throughout the year, they just doesn't have the same emotional heft that sitting around the table at Thanksgiving carries with it. There is just a lil something in the air, where even perfect strangers will buy a coffee for the person behind them, “Just Because.”

And yes, I know people do good deeds year round, but I think folks are more attuned/open to doing such things during the holidays. I love the refocus on 'what's really important' that the holidays bring as the year draws to a close. But even as exhibited in New Years Resolutions, the move away from others and family, starts on January 1st as people begin looking at themselves and what they want for themselves.

I think that as the world continues to become more (seemingly) connected, folks are finding themselves more and more isolated. The holidays encourage actual face-to-face interaction. Hugs and laughter seem to happen ad nausem. Think about the good-byes after Christmas dinner versus those at a 4th of July Family Reunion and you'll get my point.

But I don't mean to be a Debbie Downer. I love the optimism that the New Year brings. I love the 2nd Chance that it encourages. But I just miss the warmth that the passing season inspires.

So I'll just say to all of you. Remember who and what is important as you are lazing away an afternoon at the beach in August. Remember the smiles shared and the stories told around the holiday dinner table.

As for me, I definitely have some resolutions:

- Travel somewhere that isn't on the West Coast.

- Hit the gym a few times a week.

- Step forward in my career.

- Write a little more and read a few books.

- But most importantly, I want to put my words into actions and make more of an effort to actually see those who are important to me. And if nothing else, let those I can't see, know where they stand.

So I thank all of you for reading this and wish everyone a Happy and Prosperous 2011.

Depression 2009

As I sit here, sipping my 50-cent coffee, watching folks hard at work cleaning-up after the 2nd Snowpocalypse, it dawns on me.

There is no Christmas music playing. And those workers aren’t simply pressure washing the excess sand, but removing Christmas lights.

The holiday season is over.

Let the depression begin.

While Christmas shopping tends to bring-out the worst in people, the season on-the-whole seems to bring out the humanity in folks. Families get-together, friends have parties, employers give out yearly bonuses and even in these tough economic times charities see an influx of donations.

It’s freaking beautiful.

I am a Christmas freak. I love the music, I love the food, I love the parties. Simply put, I love the love.

And now it’s over. (A tear.)

I always get pretty bummed-out around this time of year. *And not just because I got to spend Christmas Even and New Year’s Eve all-by-my-lonesome, as I did this year.

It’s a lot like a 5 year-old who binges on a ton of candy, I love the high and hate the inevitable crash.

So nearly a week into the New Year, I am in a sour mood.

This is the week when folks really begin to see what resolutions are going to stick and which aren’t. I am failing miserably on mine. This is where the hope raised in a drunken stupor begins to come back down to reality.

Reality sucks.

I think that is the beauty of the Holidays and New Years, you get to suspend reality for a bit. Kids dream of the perfect present and adults look to the New Year hoping for a change after a year that may not have progressed as they liked.

But sadly, the excesses that are excused by “Oh, it’s the holidays,” reasoning must be reigned-in as folks buckle-down for the coming year.

Maybe we are all just that gluttonous 5 year-old at heart. I know I am.

Guess the trick is to find that balance.

But with the New Year comes a reminder that change is coming and though it seems all but forgotten now, sunny weather is on the way.

Something tells me that the first time I hit a tennis ball over the net, I’ll have long-forgotten this sad sack-dom that befalls me annually.

But until then, I need some candy.

A change is gonna come.

As I awoke last night to the sound of howling winds, I got to thinking about the coming New Year.

And yes, I am alluding to “Winds of Change” there. Cheesy, I know. But it was 3:30 AM.

See, 2008 started-off with a bang. After being unemployed for half of 2007, January saw me get a job and a lady in the same week…things were looking up.

If only I hadn’t peaked there.

The relationship didn’t last, with me playing the role of a Neville Brother, having ‘Played the Fool.’ And the job, while offering a paycheck and chance to work with some good folks, turned-out to be a mind-numbing dead-end position in an industry that is seriously hurting.

Woo Hoo…

While my lot is better than some, as I am employed, I am ready for a change.

Howl-on Winds of Change! (I am sticking with it.)

I saw a glimmer of hope for change in the election of Barack Obama this fall. Not just in a political sense, but because his election is an example of the seemingly impossible actually coming to fruition. I mean, America elected a Black man!! That is some historic and unheard of stuff!!

So I figure, if a Black man can become President, a dude like me should be able to land a slightly more fulfilling job or at least get a date.

Sadly, I don’t see 2009 offering any improvements on the global/national economic front. Which makes searching for a job a daunting task. But that is my resolution, transition to a career doing something that offers more than just a paycheck. (A desire I’ve shared previously on this blog.)

But if there is one thing I take away from 2008, it’s that I am still here and swingin’.

Many folks sum-up 2008 with one phrase, “It is what it is.”

My challenge to you for 2009, is to flip that sentiment and become proactive. Tweaking a line from Kanye West illustrates my point, “Don’t play the hand you are dealt, change the cards.”

Really take the time to examine your life and identify an area you’d like to see improvement in. Then take steps to make that change a reality. And hold yourself accountable.
Last year, I decided I had been fat-ass long enough, made an honest effort to change and am now in much better shape. So it can be done.

With that I sign-off, wishing you Good Luck, Good Health and Good Friends in 2009.