鈥淔or last year鈥檚 words belong to last year鈥檚 language,
And next year鈥檚 words await another voice.鈥澛� - T.S. Eliot
We鈥檝e arrived not only at the beginning of another year, but the beginning of another decade.聽 It seems like just yesterday we were all fearing the dreaded 鈥淵2K bug鈥� that was allegedly going to shut everything down in our ever-changing society and throw us back a few generations.
Hell, even I can remember being told by my parents to go downstairs and fill up the five-gallon water jugs on New Year鈥檚 Eve in 1999.聽 You know, 鈥渏ust in case鈥︹��
Flash forward twenty years later, and we鈥檝e gone from fearing the worst from computers and electronic systems to giving in and actually letting them run our daily lives, with devices like Google Minis and others named Alexa.聽 There are even talks about switching over the 9-1-1 infrastructure in this country to an entirely internet-based system.
It makes a guy just shake his head.聽 We need more analog thinking in our digital world.
Regardless of one鈥檚 thoughts on where we鈥檙e headed as a collective people, I can鈥檛 help but smile at the thought of a new year.聽 It鈥檚 the beginning of a book with 365 blank pages and your mission 鈥� should you choose to accept it 鈥� is to fill it with all sorts of adventures, occurrences and anecdotes that capture what is hopefully a memorable year ahead.
New year鈥檚 resolutions, you ask?聽 Well, on a professional level, there are two things I鈥檝e got cooking.聽 For one, I鈥檓 buying some new camera gear in the next few weeks and I鈥檓 toying with the idea that by the spring, I may start offering my services as a photographer for hire.聽 Grad photos, family portraits, and hey, I鈥檒l even go the boudoir route 鈥� provided that it鈥檚 tasteful!
Secondly, I鈥檓 taking the time in 2020 to concentrate more on my personal writing, the kind done OUTSIDE of the news biz.聽 I鈥檝e got a handful of stories that have either been sitting dormant on my laptop or they鈥檙e simply ideas in my head, and I want to bring those to life.聽 My goal is to have them finished and available to read as part of a 鈥渟hort stories collection鈥� that can be purchased for a few bucks.
Outside of my own bubble, I hope the new year and the new decade brings some changes to how we operate in Western society.聽 The short version of my summation of the past ten years is simple: There was far too much grandstanding in the 2010鈥檚 on a litany of issues by people who simply wanted to develop a social media audience or 鈥榝ollowing鈥�, and there was far too little personal accountability and logical, big-picture thinking.
In the new year and beyond, my vote goes to seeing more of the latter, and complete eradication of the former.
Take climate change, for example.聽 A serious topic?聽 Absolutely.聽 Should we all do our collective part in our own way to help the environment?聽 Yes.聽 Should we get together in large groups, stand in front of rush hour traffic with signs, and make people angry while at the same time causing more air to be polluted in the first place?聽 No, we probably shouldn鈥檛 be doing that.
How about another hot topic, like eating meat or going vegan.聽 Should we just do our own thing and eat whatever foods we like?聽 Yes.聽 Should we throw stones and a myriad of biased information at each other that says, 鈥淢y thing is better than your thing鈥�?聽 No, we shouldn鈥檛.
Protest for climate change and the environment all you want, but do it smart that actually entices people to join your cause and quit being an obvious attention hog.聽 Eat meat all you want or don鈥檛, but quit demonizing those who do or don鈥檛 eat it.
In 2020 and beyond, we need to adopt more of the mindset of 鈥淵ou do you, I鈥檒l do me.鈥�
What else would I like to see?
I鈥檇 like to see comedian Ricky Gervais honored with a gold statue somewhere for his poignant, biting, funny, and all-too-true opening monologue from the Golden Globes.聽 In seven minutes, he roasted Hollywood elitists who make millions while telling us 鈥渘ormal folk鈥� how we should live and poked fun at the absurdity of the entertainment business.
I鈥檇 like to see the same lightning-quick support for the horrific fires in Australia that the world gave to the Notre Dame Cathedral when it burned down, which saw over a billion dollars raised in two days.聽 Let鈥檚 do that for the kangaroos and the koalas!
I鈥檇 like to see the people make their voices heard loud and clear in both elections this year, provincial and municipal.
I鈥檇 like to see a prosperous year for home, Saskatchewan, and Canada as a whole.
I鈥檇 like to see 2020 make a serious impact in every sense of the word.
For this week, that鈥檚 been the Ruttle Report.
