Closing the books on 2016
As the tempestuous year that was 2016 draws to a tenuous close, we breathe a cautious sigh of relief, or despair, looking to the future with a faint glimmer of hope. For most of humanity, 2016 was a year to be filed away, deep in the vaults of Dante's Hell. It hit us like a sucker punch to the nuts and never let up. It was a beast, to be captured, destroyed if possible, locked away in a lead-lined box and dropped into the endless depths of the merciless sea. Was it a depressing anomaly, or the beginning of the end?
The warmest year on record (as were the two previous), 2016 offered a greater than average number of climate-related events and disasters, from Hurricane Matthew to widespread flooding to record-low ice levels in the Arctic. Historic wildfires plagued the drought-stricken Southeast U.S. from Atlanta to the Carolinas. Biblical hail storms pelted Texas. Meanwhile, despite predictions of imminent extinction-level events from the greatest minds in science , our weak-kneed leaders, particularly in the U.S., remain mired in self-serving greed, corruption and apathy.
It was a year of ongoing police brutality, violence, retribution and burgeoning unrest in the black community. The state of race relations and civil rights in America took a huge leap backwards in 2016. It was another year of fake news, fear-mongering and willful ignorance from the corporate media and our so-called government. They would have us shaking in our collective patriotic boots at the latest figment of a global bogeyman, known as ISIS, previously known as Al Qaeda. Yet another geopolitical fairy tale designed to fuel the eternal fires of the endless so-called War on Terror. We saw a brief victory at Standing Rock even as the oil continues to spill like blood from an open wound.
In the world of pop culture and music, it was a tragic year for Baby Boomers and Gen X'ers alike. We lost the Purple Prince of Peace, the Thin White Duke (David Bowie), Glenn Frey, and George Michael. Somewhere on high, Leonard Cohen is crooning, Hallelujah, I don't have to deal with this crap anymore. Star Wars fans lost Princess Leia and the little man in the R2D2 suit. Harry Potter lost Professor Slake. Walking Dead fans grieved the losses of Glenn and Abraham and countless others who became zombies. Reality check: only the fictional characters died in that case. And zombies aren't real, yet. TV and movie fans lost a slew of beloved characters, far too numerous to mention here. (So long, Brady mom Florence Henderson, comedian Garry Shandling, Gene Wilder, the original Willy Wonka and Alf. Alf? Really? )
We all said good-bye to the legendary Muhammad Ali.
And finally, in 2016, the ultimate rock-bottom low of low blows, America elected a madman to the highest office in the land. Or did the right-wing billionaire cabal hijack our already hopelessly broken political system? That remains a conspiracy story for another day.
But dwell not on the negative, friends. On a personal level we can all find some good--for everything good and light holds eternal life. I discovered holistic nutrition and a pathway to better health. I watched my youngest sister get married and find true happiness. Everyday I see joy in the eyes of an incorrigible pair of toddlers just living in the moment. To paraphrase Shakespeare's Hamlet, nothing is good or bad, only thinking makes it so. Look within and rise above. Meditate. Move your body. Seek personal mastery, spiritual growth and enlightenment. Laugh, countless times a day if you can.
As always, let food be your best medicine. Peace, out . . .
(Michael Farnum is a freelance writer, blogger, LMT, holistic nutritionist, oft-cranky husband and father, and semi-enlightened modern-day sage wannabe.)
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