Life is many things. Simple is not one of them. Our hubris is that we walk through life in pursuit of some sort of purpose; be that romance, friendship, family or career success. In that pursuit we may do many things, meet many people and share many experiences.

 

Every year, we look back at what we have faced and marvel or cringe. Whenever you celebrate new years, the act of looking back on how time has passed is one of the very few shared human experiences. We have moved on from thinking round numbers mark the apocalypse but we still cherish the sentiment.

 

The thing about life is - and this is our greatest misconception - we are not in the driver's seat. We are simply the navigator, a navigator with a terrible map. We can only ever get a vague idea of where we are going. And the driver, well they have not got a care in the world, their only job is keep their foot on the accelerator.

 

When we look back, It truly is a great road  that greets us. Even as we have all endured lock downs and the loss of the ones we hold dear we have forever remained interconnected. Barrelling forward without reserve because we have no choice but to live on. 



 

It is one of the many miracles of human existence. We all know that we will pass on some day and yet we find a purpose in a life we know will end. We measure our time, turning down the hourglass as the years go by, cherishing each and every grain of sand. It is impossible to see how many grains of sand we have left, so why waste them? 

 

In our human history, I do not believe any generation has come as scarily close to a dystopia than this one. Nevertheless, I am sure that this has been mused about generations before ours. The very notion instils apprehension in many but I find it quite stirring. I have more than once seen something 100% authentic and marvelled at how it defied the very laws we function under (many scientists can surely share this sentiment) . Every time the cause could only be driven back to the flawed and beautiful, human nature.

 

The coming year is surely the beginning of something and also the end of something. Just as generations before us faced their own great hardships we have faced one of ours. It has changed each of our perspectives on the life that is laid before us, made us kinder, more accepting or bitter and unforgiving. Or maybe it has made us realise the futility of it all. We laughed, cried and felt nothing. Always moving forward. 

 

It is both a great blessing and a burden. Let us not forget the lessons we have learned this year and welcome the ones we are yet to learn, because surely, they will come. We cannot fight it. 

 

As I wrote this I am at a crossover service, maybe you chose to mark the year with a party or by curling up on the couch, with fireworks or friends. I left this part till the last minute because I wanted to truly capture the feeling. The feeling of stepping into the future as the hour and minute hand grow ever closer to the awaited moment. When it comes it passes just like another with a tick and that's it. It is not the time that seals the moment, it is the shouts of joy that surround it and the songs of celebration. People jumping around in blind ecstasy, surprised because deep down they were never truly sure they would make it. It could really mean nothing, this 'year' that we constructed for ourselves but we made it something, just by sheer will.

 

I have one last request. As the year closes its doors and a new one begins, turn and look up to the sky and wonder.

 

Who might also be looking at this great expanse of sky? What lies ahead for them and for you? Might you meet this person on the street? What would you say? Would you even say anything?

 

On average, we meet  around 10,000 strangers in a lifetime. Even if we cannot move or have nowhere to go, someone is bound to remember you. A kind face, a voice in the distance, we are endlessly interconnected. You might wonder why we argue so much, alas, like DNA,  we are not that simple.

 

Ask yourself what things you have lost this year. Ask yourself what you stand to gain. It may seem naive or philosophical but this is only the beginning. The beginning of the end.

 

I won't hold you up any longer, you have a life to live!