It will soon be Christmas and 2022 will come around. I am going to take a month off from writing to give you a rest and charge up my neurons for the new year. It is disconcerting how 2021 resembled so much 2020. Both years started with much hope for a better world and exit from pain (in 2020 we were hoping Donald would be gone by the end of the year, and in 2021 we were hoping the virus would be gone by the end of the year). And in both cases, we were wrong. Even if Donald was defeated, mutations of him have lingered on and have caused damage around the world, and COVID’s mutations have gotten hold of the world and rendered the vaccines almost ineffective and continue to plunge the world’s population into despair.
As I was pondering on this thought the other day, I thought of John Lennon, who died 41 years ago on December 8, 1980, and the messages of hope he (and Yoko) sent to the world in the 70s, starting with Imagine, of course, but also with his Christmas song, Happy Xmas (War in over). I looked for this second song and as soon as I heard the first 2 lines I drowned in thoughts:
So this is Christmas,
And what have you done?
Another year over,
And a new one just begun,
Yes, what have I done this past year? For myself, my family, my friends and the people around me, in my building, neighborhood, city and country? Frankly, I don’t know. Yes, I met close friends here and there. I saw family members. Hey, I even started this posting series (The Other Day), but was I useful to this world? Did I help anyone in need or pain? I don’t know that either.
Now before you classify me as a downer during this season after such a tough pandemic year, I should say that I am an optimist and still believe in good. As for Lennon’s song, it wasn’t just a Christmas song, it was, as written in Wikipedia, “a means of elaborating upon the themes of social unity and peaceful change enacted through personal accountability and empowerment ….. trying to convey optimism while avoiding the sentimentality that he felt often characterized Christmas songs”. And I buy that, and commit to myself that I will do better in 2022
A very Merry Christmas,
And a Happy New Year,
Let’s hope it’s a good one,
Without any fear,
In case you want to hear a version of the song accompanied by Harlem Community Choir
https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/g_kj60DIq2M?rel=0&autoplay=0&showinfo=0&enablejsapi=0
Paris, December 16, 2021,
Zeejay