I don’t really know when ‘a year’ begins. The calendar is a bizarre anachronism, and I like that the -chron phoneme is in there. But I don’t trust the calendar really, at all. I suspect it begins with a solstice. But which one? Why? I don’t know. The common humans have a plethora of days on which they celebrate the beginning of a ‘public’ new year, and our private new years are, I suppose, our birthdays.

We live in times so strange… that the science fiction of my youth, brilliant and imaginative as it was… is often exceeded (usually darkly) by what is actually going on now. It’s extremely hard to be hopeful now, of a future that is meaningful and alive… and our species has gone insane. They are ripping the foundations of the natural world to shreds, a fact I find at once predictable, terrifying, tragic and catastrophic.

My personal world isn’t in much better shape, either, though I am not writing this to showcase my problems. It’s just that so many things I once depended upon have either utterly disappeared or transformed into things that I cannot relate with. Perhaps this is a common experience; one we call ‘aging’ — I don’t know.

There are basic virtues, however, in which I still trust, and which I still strive to practice and embody. Kindness. Care. Awareness. Curiosity. Insight. Love. Wonder. Reverence. Attention. Creativity. Humor. Play. Rescue. Compassion. Intelligence.

It seems very unlikely that things will ‘turn out well’ for the majority of humans alive today or the remaining shreds of the anciently conserved ecologies upon which our humanity, intelligence and existence depend. Yet I remain aware that it is sometimes in the deepest of crises, or even catastrophes… that we are called beyond our habits and comforts to bring forth the spark of genius that dwells within each of us and which can be kindled to profound expression when our communal aspect is urgently enacted.

I love many people; and there are many more I would like to know and love in this lifetime. I love the living places and creatures with an immortal adoration; and they are disappearing. To me, the ongoing population explosion of objects and machines is a threat unlike anything life has ever faced.

These reflections are a bit dire; yet it is not my intention to cast shadows. Rather, I think, I am just sharing what is in my mind in the hours before the clock renews its orbits — estranged from both nature and our human temporalities.

I hope for your well-being. For your peace of mind. For your health and healing. For you to have deep and loving relationships. That you will see and recognize your own prodigy and beauty. That you will enjoy good food, good sleep, good exercise and good dreaming. I hope for your prosperity and joy. That you may know the fulfillment of the promise of your human birth. That the virtues will come to life in your heart, body, and soul.

That the world, the sky, the divine beings and the great lineage of Being will watch over you, teach you, lift you beyond that which traps you… that all blessings will accrue… to you, and to those you love… and those who love you. Always.