I may not be able to stay awake until midnight on New Year’s Eve anymore, but I DID wake up at 12:24 a.m. on New Year’s Day, all on my own accord. I am genuinely excited for this year. 2017 was rough. I don’t have to tell you that.
As a people, we witnessed an ugliness in each other that has been unprecedented in my lifetime. From politics that serve to divide us, to Charlottesville, to Harvey Weinstein et al and #MeToo, we were brutal to one another. But in my heart, I feel that it was a lot like cleaning out the attic: it has to get really, really messy in order for us to sort it all out. We have to get so far into the thick of it that – as a society – we find ourselves asking, “What the hell were we thinking? What have we gotten ourselves into? What goes where? What worthless garbage have we stored for far too long?” And once we get through the painful process of sorting it all out, we are purged and lighter and relieved.
For the first time ever, I see more posts on social media declaring resolutions of personal growth than dieting. That’s a beautiful thing. Because I don’t care much about your waistline, but I care a whole helluva lot about the state of your heart.
So it is my hope that in 2018, we will be so much kinder and gentler with one another. That we will realize that we are all each other’s keeper – not in the manner of determining who we love, worship, or vote for – but in the strongly maternal way of loving each other unconditionally and building one another up. We are all struggling and trying our best, so let’s suspend our judgement and start extending a hand.
The song may have been released in 2015, but I believe Andra Day’s Rise Up is the song of 2018.
And move mountains
The Newest Writer 