A savant from my high school just mused (via facebook) that MTV will turn 30 this year. But that’s not the only milestone birthday on the horizon. Next September, the 9/11 Attacks will turn 10. In October, Walt Disney World will turn 40. 50 years ago, Yuri Gagarin became the first human in outer space. The United Nations Headquarters will turn 60. And it will be the 70th Anniversary of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.
America will turn 235 on July 4, 2011
2011 is certainly a year of optimism. Only 5 days in, I have a feeling that people are ready to take on new challenges, with a revitalized sense of accomplishment. In 2008, the United States welcomed in a new leader, under the banner of “Hope”, while underestimating how disheartening a recession can be. For three years, small talk has become synonymous with chattering about “the market”, “sub-prime mortgages”, and “this economy”. In colleges around the country, students are accepting the reality that there might not be a job waiting for them. Unemployment grew, disenfranchisement hardened.
And as unsatisfying as the phrase is, “this too shall pass.” As is the case every year, the end of 2010 was like taking out the trash. Trash that has been sitting in the house, permeating every room. Some of the scents may have been pleasant at one time or another, but by December 31, I think everyone was ready to start thinking about the new year. (I know many people who had wonderful years, some of the best, financially or otherwise, even they are ready to start 2011).
November 25, 2010 - Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade - Next year the Parade will be 87 years old
2010 was a year of change. It brought new delights, new challenges, new relationships, new failures, new successes, new cities, new jobs, and for me, a new family member. And change is good – that is the pilgrim’s progress. And now, we all have a clean slate. A brand new year to pick up the pieces, rebuild, and regain control.
February 7, 2010 - Ken and Summer get married in New Zealand
June 12, 2010 - Paul and Sabrina get married in Granite Bay, CA
It is time to think seriously about our resolutions. Not just our trite attempts to make it to the gym, or stop biting our nails. I mean really re-evaluate who we are. Resolve to be different. Life is undeniably boring without change. Stability is the mirage of the middle class. It is time to start asking ourselves what changes need to occur? What have we resolved to do, to be, to become?
As a New York denizen, I have become acutely aware of the faults around me. New York City’s main fault as I see it, is selfishness. It’s a hermit’s haven, and paradoxically so. With so many people, the dam of congeniality simply broke long ago. Now, the expectation is privacy, one-wordedness, and convenience. And for all it’s ease, it’s still decidedly the hardest place to live (assuming you aren’t a millionaire). It might have been the land of opportunity at one point, but like the rest of the country, I flocked here only to find the dried bones. But where one man’s trash is another man’s trash-scented treasure, even I believe that the dried up well of humanity can be full again.
2011 is a year in which I wholeheartedly believe Kanye West will not have the Album of the Year (I don’t personally believe he had it in 2010 either). I don’t believe that the Best Picture Award will go to my favorite choice. I don’t believe that I will have a dream salary. I do however believe that Americans will start rolling with the punches. My hope is that we stop expecting, and start doing. 2011 will only be as good as we make it.
