The Year and the Next

Another year comes to an end and what a helluva year it’s been; from the Arab Spring and the Queensland floods and cyclone to the death of the North Korean leader there has rarely been a week that hasn’t given us some dramatic news. And just so we don’t get complacent Melbourne has an amazing thunderstorm on Christmas day to keep us alert. 2011 will definitely go down as defining ‘tumultuous’.


It’s not certain amongst all the tumult that humanity has advanced much though; our first response to conflict is military, we celebrate the death of someone we have decided is one of the baddies throwing out rules of decency let alone human rights, we can’t agree on how to ensure the environment is clean and healthy for future generations- well we can’t even agree on whether there is anything awry with the climate.

I hope in 2012 we can find a sense of decency and open heartedness again. I look forward to conflict being a matter of disagreement and something to talk our way through rather than a reason for killing or reverting to our most primal instincts. A review of our priorities in life both as a person and as a world happens. In the second decade of the second millennium it is time for us to get a grip and show that we are actually evolving as human beings. Too often we seem to be slaves to technology rather than masters of it, victims of a culture that says ‘time is money and more time is even better’ where the business of busy-ness rules and we are developing into a slave society working from home, blurring the lines ever more between work and home, work and leisure, work and family, work and more work. What I find most offensive is taking life for granted, it’s too precious a thing to put it aside while we ‘grow our career’, put in the hard yards now to enjoy the benefits later. Sadly, for some there isn’t a ‘later’ – it’s not guaranteed. The old adage that on your death bed you will ask ‘just one more meeting’ is sadder rather than funny. The cursed addictions to our Blackberry (Crackberry), iPhone, Smartphone, Facebook or Twitter might be improving accessibility and might be seen as increasing convenience but what are we giving away in the process?

Whatever your hopes and thoughts are as we come to the end of this year I hope they come your way. Enjoy the festive season, be with the ones you love or love the time itself if you’re on your own.

Thanks for taking the time to read my ramblings and keep up the conversation – I really believe it’s the way for us to be the community we want to be.