In anticipation of heading into the last year of our second decade of the second millennium I asked my friends on social media to share with me their hopes, fears, and aspirations for 2019.
Their responses suggest that there’s fear around the transition of power, but there’s also hope that we can begin to reunite as a nation, and that we can strive toward reducing social and political toxicity while also renewing our commitment to humanism. Hope for good health, accessible and affordable health care is strong – as is concern for the urgent and sobering reality that we might be too late to mitigate the ravages of climate change.
Love and loving are the staples of human joy. So, too, are freedom, serving one’s community, growing food, and feeding family and friends. And I was encouraged to see there’s still a deep belief that as a civilization it is possible to live together with charity for all.
One friend is resolved to listen more – talk less – take more risks and have no regrets. Another is determined to embrace the good in everyone and live a life full of passion for what we enjoy, while women in general are more aware of their personal power.
Most people will strive to be kind, live simply, have mutual respect for others and honor our differences. There’s a desire to be more genuine, to rethink what provides contentment and a sense of purpose in one’s life.
Perhaps most profoundly, there’s a yearning for international peace and an end to war. Leonard Cohen’s lyrics were quoted “Ring the bells that still can ring. Forget your perfect offering. There is a crack in everything. That’s how the light gets in.”
The forty or so people who took the time to respond to my inquiry are deeply concerned about the state of our world, yet they’re optimistic about our future and want to do right by generations to come.
All in all I’d say that as the clock starts on 2019 – most of us intend to try once again to put our best foot forward and as a popular saying goes, “be the change we want to see in our world.”
