2024... A Hopeful Year Of Healing...

                                                                     (Not sure who to credit)
 

Hi!

As 2023 becomes a memory, it's only natural to wonder what 2024 will bring. 

I consider myself a perpetually hopeful, cautiously optimistic, realist. 

What does that mean? 

Well, to me, it means that I am more than absolutely hopeful that 2024 is going to be a healing year. A year for reconnection, a year for prickly beds constructed by self-serving/self-destructive people to be filled, and understanding it will take most of the year to see it all come to fruition. 

It also means that I am cautiously optimistic that once the shit has all run downhill, the manure pile will be spread fairly amongst all who deserve a taste. 

The realist in me knows that none of it will go without a hurdle or two or twelve, getting in the way.

I'm hopeful that in 2024, the places in the world where peace feels like a fantasy, experience such an overabundance of tranquility, that it becomes so plentiful it tickles being taken for granted. 

I'm cautiously optimistic that at some point, people with a bit more foresight than a toddler will develop some modicum of understanding that the devastation driven by egos stoked by greed always far outweighs the imaginary benefits of these conflicts. 

Realistically, I know that ego and greed aren't going anywhere. Along with the power that usually goes with it, you have the oppression trifecta that fuels the neverending "I'm better than you," Olympics. 

I'm hopeful that, as humans, we get better at acceptance. Not tolerance. Acceptance. I'm hopeful that those who struggle with understanding that every human deserves the same rights they do, become more open, more compassionate, more empathetic, more willing to change their perceptions. 

I'm cautiously optimistic that this will happen. The newer generations have had fewer teachers of poisonous content, so that, in and of itself breeds more open-mindedness. The progress is slow, and not without backslides, but it is progress. 

Realistically, I don't know if I will live to see the day when people will stop marginalizing others. Maybe my grandbabies will. Hell, I hope they are a big part of making it happen. 

So, as we step into the new year, let's all just try to be better. 

When you know better, you are, as a decent human, obligated to do better.

Using willful ignorance as an excuse for bigotry and prejudice is ridiculous. 

Holding on to antiquated ignorance as an excuse not to change or grow is sad. It shrouds you in a life of black and white.

Besides, you're missing out on all the joy, all the brilliance, all the flavour that comes with embracing the rainbow. 

So here's to 2024! A healing year, full of hope, accountability, peace, and acceptance.

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May you bring in the new year with a glass of something bubbly and a kiss.

May you embrace each new day with gusto, with hope, with joy, you deserve all of this.

May the new year be kind to you, allowing you to heal from any hardships, any loss.

May you remind yourself daily, that you are the star of your own movie, not the side-kick, the boss.

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