Living anew

Each year, we welcome the first of January with a bang, a dozen or so of old and new resolutions plus a hundred of traditions that would “as old sayings say” bring good luck.

My family’s not spared from these. For years I’ve seen my mom preparing a polka-dot duster to wear and a number of round fruits for the table while I and my siblings await the New Year’s eve jump that was supposed to make us tall.

As the years passed, I’ve noticed that the dotted dusters came but were only given much importance on New Years. The fruits were eaten and forgotten, while the jumps seemed to confuse than to amaze us because only my brothers became taller even though they ignored the tradition.

More than these, I realized that each year comes to present itself as a circle of people and events which, like history, never fails to repeat itself. The same seems more evident in our government’s affair where issues focus mainly on our leaders’ blunders and how by turn of fate such unspeakable mistakes are put on hold and consequently erased when celebrity news such as “Pacman wins” snatches justice away from our people.

As if national news weren’t enough, we’d hear bombings from distant places like Gaza echoing a constant cry for survival and normal life. While we see these mad portrayals on tv and read each issue on the paper, something still whispers a thought in my ear – while for a greater number of us life is as easy as choosing the best polka-dot duster in town, there are still quite a number that lives without any options at all.

This year, my family stepped into a new way of celebrating New Year. It’s a great change. Although simple, it created a fantastic memory. I hope that our country, if not the whole world, would see life and living differently, for a better year.

Change is inevitable so let it be a good one.

Happy New Year everyone!