We don’t know what kind of year you had — we hope it was a good one. But we hope you have an even better 2012. We know there will most likely be less rain since this past year set a record — but we have a torrent of political ads to look forward to that will probably have us throwing shoes at our televisions before summer arrives.
Meanwhile, have a good New Year’s Eve, whether your preference is dressing up in your finest and heading to a big, glitzy bash, or spending a quiet evening at home. And we look forward to sharing the next year with you as we cover all the corners of Northeast Ohio music, arts, food, people, politics, and anything else interesting we can dig up to share with you.
This article appears in Dec 28, 2011 – Jan 3, 2012.
I love New Years. It is like a blank slate in which all the stupid shit you did in the previous year can be forgotten and forgiven. Hope wears baby clothes and holds opportunity and innocence without fear. We are allowed to change for the better if only we try. Forgive yourself and all of the people who you have pissed off. Look at each one of your enemies in your mind’s eye and see them as new and sinless and happy to share the planet with you. Forgive all wars and believe that they can one day be the nightmares of a child who now knows they were but dreams. Embrace life without attachments of material or fear of loosing things of no value. And remember: Nothing of true value can be lost. Even the body’s death is but a clear shot to eternity..a free path toward limitlessness.
Only one half of a day before New Years. Less than twelve hours to decide what we want to do next year and for the rest of our lives. One thing that I like to think is that it is all about choices. Every thought which goes through are heads is a choice and a reaction to time and space. Even as bad things happen it is not the bad things which define us, but our reaction to these things, and our adaptation to our life. I have seen some very powerful thinkers who have been dealt some very serious blows and have made what we perceive as weakness, change to strengths. We have the power to make negatives positive if we only believe we have the choice. The best lesson which I have been given is: Forgive first; then seek to understand. It is not possible to understand before forgiving because it places a contingency upon forgiveness. It is more important to forgive than to understand why someone did something which harmed you. Make it your default whenever something or someone makes you hurt to first forgive, and then if a deeper understanding of the whys and whos follows, fine, but not important.