My New Year's experience this time involved 3 words. Two were from the word of the day emails that I got and they were perfect for the occasion. The other word was suggested by someone on Facebook and brought up appropriate memories. The word of the day for New Year's Eve day , December 31st was sayonara which is Japanese for "farewell" or "goodbye" - which for the end of 2020 was perfect. Everyone wants to say "good bye" to this year, nobody wants to remember it - just put it behind us. Worse year of our lives.
The word (rather phrase) of the day for New Year's Day, January 1st, was carpe diem - Latin for seize the day. Looking forward that is what we want to do - take charge, make the most of the opportunities each day presents. Whether it is personal or political there is much to be improved over the last year (or in political the last 4 years). Broken systems to fix, hurts to be healed, progress desperately needed. It is the perfect phrase to use to motivate us for positive change at the beginning of the new year.
And then the 3rd word - jumanji. I know that is odd, but it is what my wife and I both said at midnight, and a few other friends said. If you remember the movie uttering that triggered the end of the disasterous game and restore things to normal. After all we went through in 2020 it was the final send off and "good riddance" to all the pain, loss, misery, and chaos of the past. And a declaration that we were finally moving forward. Of course there are those clinging to the past - deluded into thinking it was normal -but we are moving on, determined to build a better future.
So I urge you to use Jumanji to at least visually detach yourself from the clutches of the past, say sayonara to the pain of the past, and shout carpe diem and seize the opportunities today to surge forward.
