No goodbyes, no regrets, no what-might've-beens. 2007 departs with a shrug of indifference.
Oh, I thought things were good when the year began, but circumstances changed and I pulled back, detached from whatever pageants and parades may have been on display. The latest heartbreak was too much to bear. My tears cried out, the blinders went on, and life became mere existence.
The things I used to care about no longer meant much to me. Of course, that had been percolating for a long time, and I'd been waiting for a change. I thought I'd found it--not only marriage, but family. Oh, new life, new adventure! Changes upon changes, joy unimagined. So unfamiliar with and unaccustomed to happiness, it took me awhile to shed the skins of my previous life, to emerge into this new world.
In fact, I never quite got there. The new life was not to be, and I found myself returning to the past I thought I'd escaped. The signposts were familiar, but no longer pointing to places I wanted to go. The comfort of the familiar become dull routine.
Lord, this sounds depressing. And I'm using way too many words. The point is, 2007 started great and ended...not great. I can see my growing detachment even in what I've posted here since last January. As the time progressed, I cranked out fewer political screeds or lengthy takedowns of pop culture, mostly because it became harder and harder for me to care anymore.
But hey, the calender turns, right? Bright new days, new opportunities, new worlds to explore. More crappy sequels, more reality shows, more blight and pestilence and suffering, more war and disease...
No, no, no. Stay upbeat. Nobody wants to be depressed. Grit your teeth and say it like you mean it:
Happy New Year.
