A Year in the Life

2008 is (and very-soon-to-be was) a year composed of 525,600 minutes, just like any other year before it and any other year to come. But for each one of us, it has made an especially strong impact in our lives in one way or another. Some people will remember it for special countless smiles and LOL moments; some will remember it for heart-rending grief and tears that will last for years to come.

It has been a time for joyful reunions, as well as for painful partings of ways. It has been a year for the discovery of things unexpected and unwarranted, yet also a year for the re-affirmation of steadfast desires and beliefs.

Joyful or tragic, I believe this year -- and every year for that matter -- is marked by love. It doesn't matter whether your asshole boss or your mind-numbingly exasperating neighbor has been pissing you off. And so what if boredom or despair -- the kind that makes you want to slit your wrists -- threatens to overwhelm you sometimes? In the words of one of the world's foremost geniuses: "Shit happens."

Negativity of any kind is negated in certain timeless moments.

1. Like a child's belly laugh when you hug and tickle her. The realization that your child is growing up to be even more of a smartass than you or his/her other parent -- and you secretly liking that no matter how much you may complain about it.

2. Like intensely serious yet humorous conversations with friends and family, lively and heated debates replete with cuss words that you nevertheless know are filled with love, but which those not in the know might misconstrue. Which makes such conversations all the more fun!

3. Like breathtaking moments that really do take your breath away when you least expect it: seeing something that's so indescribably beautiful, tasting a new dish that defies description, experiencing an epiphany that shakes one's personal universe to its very core.

4. Like the memories of the sound of a voice that's as caressing yet as intimidating as the sound of waves breaking on the reef, the sound of a heartbeat underneath your cheek when you lay your head on his or her chest, the indescribably enthralling and breathtaking (see point #3) sight, smell, and taste of skin at dawn's first light.

5. Like the movie-esque dramas and comedies that usuallly make up the better part of the day, but which we can't forget no matter how much we try...well, not at first, at least. But deep down, do we really want to erase them from our memory? Especially if they're accompanied by earworms we would never admit to enjoying; the cheesier the song, the better!

No matter what kind of year you're having, I hope it ends well. I sincerely hope we all experience 2009's 525,600 minutes in ways that would enrich our lives and those of the people around us -- in the universal ways that transcend barriers of culture, language, sex, and religion: music, pictures, and well-chosen words. Such things make as laugh, cry, dream, feel.

I especially wish for all of us to experience the New Year in that thing called love. Because it makes everything so worthwhile. Whether disguised by humor, by general smartypants-ness, and by exasperation, and whether given or received -- or both! -- it's priceless.

May the 525,600 minutes of 2009 and beyond be blessed for all of you. Happy New Beer Year!