Anew
Happy New Year. Feliz Año Nuevo. Feliz Ano Novo. Buon Anno. Bonne Année.
Always “happy.”
Good morning. Buenos días. Bom Dia. Buon Giorno. Bonjour.
Always “good.”
It is traditional to greet each new year and each new day with the words “happy” and “good” before it.
But we know not every new day or new year is necessarily a good one.
On the morning of November 30, 2011, I awoke with tears in my eyes and a stab to my heart as it was the first morning my beloved father would not witness.
When 2011 ended, I did not care to welcome 2012 because I knew it would be the first year my father would never witness.
There was nothing “good” about that morning or “happy” about that new year to me.
We are now just over a week into 2025 and already it is anything but “happy” for so many.
It is devastating.
For New Orleans.
For Los Angeles.
For many places and people across the world.
For many in my personal sphere.
As I have wished people a “Happy New Year” or have said “Good Morning” this week, my thoughts have gone to the heaviness so many are carrying, the weight of our hardships.
My mind has returned to how I felt on the morning of November 30, 2011 and in the first days of January 2012.
How can we say “happy” or “good” when there is so much suffering and devastation throughout the world?
How can we say “happy” or “good” when we do not know if it is, in fact, happy or good for the person we are greeting?
But ever since November 30, 2011, I have come to learn that it is not that the new year or the new day is automatically happy or good.
Rather, it is that we are here to witness it, even amidst devastation.
Each new day is a gift.
Even the hardest, most painful, most frightening of days means that we are still here.
We are here to look into the eyes of our loved ones and tell them that we love them.
We are here to be the change we wish to see in the world.
We are here to intake and exhale breath.
Each new day — even if it is not necessarily a good one — is indeed a gift.
May we cherish the gift of every minute we are given in a new day.
May we cherish the gift of every minute we are given in a new year.
