Rarely has a new year been so anticipated. Rarely has the old year been so challenging.
by Pete Fasciano, Executive Director - 01/03/2021
2020, good riddance! That was the broadly shared sentiment on New Year’s Eve.
Midnight came. Midnight went. The ball dropped on an evacuated Times Square. That sorry visual summed up 2020. Confetti going nowhere. No cheering throngs. Ryan Seacrest was working overtime to gin up manic excitement from – nobody. (sound effect of crickets.) The surreal scene unfolded like a bad dress rehearsal. This apocalyptic moment was 2020’s parting ‘gift’ to the world. 2020 threw a going-away party – and nobody came. (sound effect of one feeble party horn.)
I take a few minutes to watch the ball drop every year. Underneath the noise and hoopla there is a clock-tick at the stroke of midnight; one that I just don’t hear.
Can’t say the ‘moment’ ever hits home for me at midnight. My sense of a New Year happens when that very first glimmer of predawn light arrives the next morning. This hushed, solitary waking moment, separated from all that was, is when 2021 becomes real. It is my existential, experiential journey from first night to first light.
This is the light of hope and promise. It is mine.
Now we turn to hope for 2021 – more than usual. However, we also need resolve – more than usual. Steely resolve – for our journey from darkness.
Yes, it will be darkest before the promised dawn. But, by steely resolve that dawn will surely come. That resolve is simply to be kind and considerate to others around you, be they friend or stranger.
We are resolved to defeat covid19 in 2021. When it’s gone, we can party– like it’s 1999.
