So, here we are again: celebrating the start of a new year and bidding good-bye to the old one. While I am pretty glad to let go of 2023, I have no delusions that 2024 will be a great improvement. Or any improvement at all.
Problems, Problems, Problems
Here at home, we have a presidential election coming up, a contest that will likely unleash even more hatred and animosity than we have seen so far. Our democracy may well be at stake, and nothing is certain. Abroad, wars continue in Ukraine and Gaza, and have already created divisions in the United States. Climate change proceeds unchecked. The weather grows ever more extreme and unpredictable despite new technologies to monitor it. AI has reared its head for better or worse.
And that’s just the start. The list goes on, and on. I feel like we should hunker down and keep a low profile just to prepare for what’s coming this year. Yet we can’t do that without giving up and abdicating our responsibilities to solve problems, administer justice, and make things better.
Phew! That gives us a lot to deal with.
Roundup of November-December 2023 Posts
So, let’s take a moment and look back on the posts that were published on The Next Phase Blog from November-December 2023
Despite the holidays and spending weeks with my arm in a sling after rotator cuff surgery, I managed to publish two months’ worth of posts across a variety of topics. Should you have missed some in the end-of-year rush, here’s a roundup of November-December posts on The Next Phase Blog.
Boston and History
- Boston’s Missing: The Whale and the Dolphins
- The Snowport’s Christmas Market in Boston
- Boston’s Un-Common Comfort Station
Books
Business
Health and Safety
Lifestyle and Culture
Military
Women Challenging Change
Warning: 2024 Ahead
And a whole new year stretches out in front of us. We have eaten the goodies and drunk the wine and now we have to get down to business. I have no New Year’s resolutions to honor: I have never done that. If a thing is worth doing, I believe one should start doing it immediately, not waiting for an artificial deadline.
But here are the things I hope you will do:
- Pay attention: Follow the news and know what’s happening. Think about those things and make up your own mind.
- Vote
- Take good care of yourself. As the sign in my physical therapist’s office says: “If you don’t make the time for exercise now, you will have to find the time for illness later.”
- Be grateful for everything you have. And you probably have more than 98% of the people living on planet earth.
- Take some time to look around you and appreciate the beauty of the world we live on.
- Be kind to animals, people, and other living things.
- Recycle
I love you all.