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RANDOM THOUGHTS ON NEW YEAR'S EVE
1. I've spent the last two years volunteering at a local hospice, getting to know people both young and old who've arrived at the final point in their lives, AIDs and cancer victims, and some who have actually managed to live out their “three score and ten – plus.” I've taken them shopping, to Barnes & Noble to buy a special book, to church, around town to see the Christmas lights, to lunch when they can't stand the hospice food any more (it's really not bad, but anything gets boring after a while). I've sung along with the karaoke with them, helped with crafts, run Tai Chi sessions, taken AIDS patients for appointments with their doctors, sat with them when they couldn't get out of bed any more.
This has caused a profound change in the way I view my life. I've learned that none of us know how long we've been given on this Earth, nor can we predict the manner of our going out (other than avoiding risky sexual behavior and needle sharing). But far from making me feel morbid or depressed it has been very freeing. I realized that the only thing that counts is to pay attention to each day – as Ram Dass said, “Be here now.” That has to be my Number One New Year resolution. Live in the Now and stop fretting about the future.
2. I live in Southern California, surrounded by Spanish speakers. What excuse do I have for not learning Spanish? Oh, I know a few phrases, and I can understand quite a bit (especially written Spanish). I'm not good at teaching myself a language – I prefer immersion, the way I became proficient in French and German. But next year I'm going to take a class and learn more than “Feliz an~o nuevo!” (Maybe another resolution might be to learn how to make the little accent marks appear in the right places -- like *over* the letter instead of after it?)
3. Now that my greyhound, Jack, is well again, I need to get back to the regime we used to have of long walks. I'd like to prepare to walk a 5K in the spring. The dogs will be happy, so I'd better start soon.
4. (This one has nothing to do with New Year resolutions!) I received a brochure advertising a week-long writers' conference from UC Riverside, home of the Eaton Library of Science Fiction – the biggest, most prestigious collection west of the Mississippi – and maybe in the entire country – and host to the Eaton Conference, an annual powerhouse drawing SF scholars from all over, including the Ivy League. And what do you know? No science fiction writers were invited to give talks or run workshops. Sigh. But what they didn't realize is that their keynote speaker, a great literary figure, has also written – gasp! – science fiction: Joyce Carol Oates.
Happy New Year to everyone. May you and the the world have peace.
This has caused a profound change in the way I view my life. I've learned that none of us know how long we've been given on this Earth, nor can we predict the manner of our going out (other than avoiding risky sexual behavior and needle sharing). But far from making me feel morbid or depressed it has been very freeing. I realized that the only thing that counts is to pay attention to each day – as Ram Dass said, “Be here now.” That has to be my Number One New Year resolution. Live in the Now and stop fretting about the future.
2. I live in Southern California, surrounded by Spanish speakers. What excuse do I have for not learning Spanish? Oh, I know a few phrases, and I can understand quite a bit (especially written Spanish). I'm not good at teaching myself a language – I prefer immersion, the way I became proficient in French and German. But next year I'm going to take a class and learn more than “Feliz an~o nuevo!” (Maybe another resolution might be to learn how to make the little accent marks appear in the right places -- like *over* the letter instead of after it?)
3. Now that my greyhound, Jack, is well again, I need to get back to the regime we used to have of long walks. I'd like to prepare to walk a 5K in the spring. The dogs will be happy, so I'd better start soon.
4. (This one has nothing to do with New Year resolutions!) I received a brochure advertising a week-long writers' conference from UC Riverside, home of the Eaton Library of Science Fiction – the biggest, most prestigious collection west of the Mississippi – and maybe in the entire country – and host to the Eaton Conference, an annual powerhouse drawing SF scholars from all over, including the Ivy League. And what do you know? No science fiction writers were invited to give talks or run workshops. Sigh. But what they didn't realize is that their keynote speaker, a great literary figure, has also written – gasp! – science fiction: Joyce Carol Oates.
Happy New Year to everyone. May you and the the world have peace.
--M