In one hour from now, 2024 comes to a close. Some reflections are in order.
As one might detect by the title, I am content with my own lot in life although I cannot say the same for what is happening around me.
So, let's start with the good stuff.
The highlight of 2024 was getting promoted at work. Given the tumult I experienced in moving from Boston to New York to Atlanta and back to Boston/Cambridge in the space of less than three years, this development has been immensely rewarding. I have been in the new position for just under two months with much to learn but I believe I am more than equal to the challenge and have the support to back it up.
Back in March, I made my first trip back to Canada in far too long going to Thunder Bay for my Mom's 80th birthday. There were several visits to New York to see Dad including one visit with my older brother Ezra. There were also lunches and dinners with various friends including a daytrip to Providence, Rhode Island back in August to see my former roommate Christopher Kain (who I shall be seeing tomorrow to watch the Marx Brothers Movie Marathon at the Brattle Theatre). I also renewed acquaintances with Fanny lead guitarist June Millington when she appeared at the Boston Public Library in October.
But most of my free time was spent alone engaged in relatively simple pleasure - be it walking from Cambridge to Boston and back, swimming, candlepin bowling, posting my song of the day on Facebook, going to the movies and the occasional concert or looking for and finding Remy the Harvard cat.
Now onto the bad stuff.
When I wrote my year end dispatch on this day in 2023, I was acutely worried about two things - the future of American democracy with Donald Trump's possible return to the White House and rising anti-Semitism in this country.
Unfortunately, my worst fears have come to pass. Trump will return to the White House in less than three weeks and anti-Semitism is becoming mainstream in this country on both sides of the political spectrum. Neither of these things bode well for the future. Alas, these developments are of our own making.
In view of these circumstances, I wonder how long it will be before these two things directly interfere with my day-to-day life. Would I lose my job for writing a blog post critical of Trump or defending Israel? Then there is the larger question as to whether our rights will be abridged be it through Trump suspending all or part of the U.S. Constitution or whether government or other institutions will see fit to discriminate against Jews amid objectives to render Israel into a pariah state.
It is quite possible that the current feuding between the MAGA base and Elon Musk could curtail the worst excesses of a second Trump Administration. That this exercise is likely to result in incompetence is of cold comfort. The incompetence of the last Trump Administration resulted in more than 400,000 deaths under their watch on an account of COVID. It doesn't say much for us that we chose to ignore this incompetence and have asked for more.
It is also not very comforting to know that many among us, especially on college campuses, celebrate the slaughter of Jews at the hands of Hamas, a man who caused the death of a homeless man was celebrated by the incoming President and Vice-President while others lionize a man who murdered the CEO of a health insurance company as if that would do anything to lower their premiums. Such a sickness is not easily treated especially in the absence of public trust.
Nevertheless, I know that much of causes me distress and sorrow are things over which I have almost no control. I can voice my opinion but not much else. With that said, I am further distressed at the prospect that I might soon not be able to voice my opinion lest it ruin my livelihood.
I can see that I have written twice as much about the bad stuff as I have about the good stuff. By this quantitative measure, it does not represent an accurate reflection of my state of being. Of course, I cannot ignore the bad things which are making things go to hell in this country. But even under the best of circumstances life is fragile.
I do my best to direct my energies on things on which I can control or have a reasonable chance of success. It is one of the reasons why I have thrived with my current employer. I have also accepted the life is full of annoyances and inconveniences and that one must choose one's battles with discretion and wisdom.
One of those battles was lodging a complaint with the Massachusetts Attorney General after the Wilbur Theatre denied me entrance to the Emmylou Harris concert last March because of the bag I was carrying. It took some time to attain a satisfactory resolution, but justice was done. In the grand scheme of things, $75 is pocket change to many in this day and age but it was the principle of the matter and standing firm upon it.
I might not have got to see and hear Emmylou Harris in concert, but I did see and hear Bachman-Turner Overdrive, Joan Osborne, Frankie Valli, Yoko Miwa, Leonid & Friends, Wild Taxi plus some laughs from Ben Bailey. Hopefully, I will get to see and hear Smokey Robinson next year after a postponement earlier this month. I've also been thinking of taking in a show from "Weird Al" Yankovic when he comes to Boston in July.
Whatever trepidation I might have about 2025 and beyond is tempered by the fact that I will have things to which to look forward be it work, walking, swimming, candlepin bowling, sharing my love for obscure 1960s and 1970s music on social media, concerts, movies and renewing acquaintances with friends as well as the possibility of meeting new people and discovering interests which might have never occurred to me.
As long as I have these possibilities before me then my life can continue to go well even if the country continues to go to hell. Whatever outer war there is going around me is tempered by my inner peace.
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