Here's hoping

Outside, there is the sound of thunder.

And while I always enjoy a good thunderstorm, I wonder about what cold air is hitting what warm air at 6:20 p.m. on December 31. My first thought, it about global warming; my second thought is that the nearby ski area is shooting off fireworks and it’s not thunder at all. Either thought is discouraging and interconnected to my basis premise that we need a new vision for 2010.

As a child, my first experience with fireworks was arrows of light being shot off from barge in the middle of the Navesink River in Red Bank, NJ. The soundUpon moving to Morristown, in my pre-teen years, I was shocked and disappointed to see fireworks shot off in a field. There was no reflection on the water, there was not water sound, lapping up against the pier. And by the time I moved to Narrowsburg, and could once again experience the explosion and colors reflected in the waters of the Upper Delaware, my awareness of environmental degradation spoiled my enthusiasm for their display. Burning up chemicals, for sheer enjoyment no long held the same allure. In fact, it was a proof point for me that we humans have no idea the havoc that we cause to our planet for our entertainment and lifestyle.

It is this awareness, and the thought that I simply cannot become a doomsday maniac that I consider this last day of the decade and say hello to 2010. It’s going to be tricky to wake up, see the world for what it is: a culmination of centuries of belief in progress and growth that is imploding on itself, and still find wonder and awe in daily living.

It’s going to be tricky to not become strident but rather continue to work to bring disparate voices together. As the stakes become higher, and the challenges become much more personal how will we, individually and collectively, rise to be our best selves.

I hope to continue to embrace growth. I hope to learn to keep myself in control, to become more introspective and retrospective at the same time. And I hope that projecting this peace and awareness that I will expect from myself will encourage others around me to the same.

And I hope to meet you there.