This past year has been amazing. There have been so many changes, most of them positive, some of them not, but all of them contributing to a paradigm shift in my life, a transformation, really. On this Thanksgiving Day I have much to be thankful for.
But gratitude alone can be insufficient. Action is required, and as I look forward to the next year (it's early, I know, but it's good to get ahead of things) I can't help but think feeling good is not good enough. Doing good is where it's at.
But what does "doing good" mean? For most of us, it means providing for our families and taking care of our friends. Those are the central things in life, of course, and the first priority for anyone. Each of us has to look at our own face in the mirror every day, and it's hard to like what you see when you feel like you've let the people closest to you down.
There's more to life than just our immediate circle, though. There's a wider world, and each of us has our place in it. It's not always easy to find what that place is; it can sometimes take a while to figure it out. Maybe even a lifetime.
In my case, it's been an unfolding process. I guess that's probably true for most people--the old saw "life is a journey, not a destination" is true. And the steps along the way can often limit the destinations you have the opportunity to reach. Each of us has lost dreams, frustrated ambitions, challenges we were unable to overcome. Failure is a part of life, as much as success is. The question is not whether things will ever be perfect; life never is. The only question is how we can make it better.
A good start is to take an honest inventory of ourselves. I've been doing that for the past couple months, as I've been trying to heal from a pretty significant health situation which clobbered me for a bit right at the start of the Fall. (I'm fine now, for the record.) A little introspection now and then is a good thing, as long as it doesn't become a habit.
I won't bore you with the details, except to say in the midst of my navel gazing I realized it's better to pick your head up and look around than stare into that mirror too much. Get going. Reach out. Find ways to contribute to your community and your society. It doesn't have to be anything dramatic, or even self-sacrificing. Being productive is enough, if that's all you really want to do. The important thing is to make each day count for something, and to remember each of us, by virtue of living in a free society, gets to choose our own mission.
My mission starts with what I'm doing now: writing. This blog has been laying fallow for quite some time. I decided last night to start cultivating it again. I have quite a few other venues in which I can make my voice heard, and I'll be hitting those as often as humanly possible, too. I hope you find what I have to say informative, interesting and entertaining. (There has to be room for fun, too.)
But more than that, I hope each of my readers understands I do what I do as a matter of public service, first. As a certified news junkie I spend a lot of time checking out what's going on. As a journalist it's my job to share what I find out with you. A central canon of the profession is the notion democracy builds itself. That's only possible when the citizenry is well-informed.
Simply chronicling the living history of our times may not be enough, though. A further step might be required, something more direct, and I have a pretty good idea what that will be. In the meantime I'll be working very hard to blend the different strands I've found lying about into one seamless tapestry, one that allows me to be a force for good. And I hope each of those who share in my journey will find the story useful in their own quest.
A very Happy Thanksgiving to you all.
