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No. That's not a typo, nor is it a misspelling. I'm wishing all a Happy "Knew Year." Like as in the word know, which the American Heritage Dictionary defines as "to perceive directly with the senses or mind; apprehend with clarity or certainty. To be certain of......to have a practical understanding of...acquainted or familiar with." I don't know about you, but the past year has been the most volatile and unsettling of any in my "short" history of nearly 62 years. Economically, politically, financially, socially, environmentally. You name it. And while I'm sitting here at my computer penning this article online, others will be engaging themselves in "ringing" in the new year of 2009. I'm still "wringing" out the old. Wringing, as in "extracting, by compressing or squeezing; to twist or clasp forcibly."
So why the term "Knew Year"? If the past, which is defined as "not current" is any indication as what is yet to come, I will be more careful in defining the word "happy". Looking back on 2008, there seems little to be "happy" about. Bailouts, bank failures, auto industry collapse, housing woes, stock market declines. One glance at my 401k says it all. In short, the only sense I can make out of 2008 in my "wringing" is from the year just past; the one I "knew". Hence, "knew" year.
2009, I don't "know" about. It is the future. I don't have a crystal ball. And I'm sure I don't want to know what is ahead. A philosopher once said, and I will paraphrase, that those who forget the mistakes of past history are bound to repeat them. In essence, I can look back on the year I "knew" and learn from it. Maybe making "sense of it", or "apprehend with clarity or certainty" the events of the past year is a bit of a stretch, yet I still have the advantage of hindsight (which is not necessarily 20/20) to make judgements that will shape the future.
As I am finishing up the last lines of this piece, 2009 has rolled onto the scene. It represents hope in contrast to those events that seem hopeless. Not everything in 2008 was bad. A quick perusal will indicate that I am still alive, I have one more daughter to get through college, a few less years on the mortgage and car payments, and a solid job outlook. Yeah. Every year of the past will become a "knew" year.
The same will be said for 2009 when it ends 365 days from now. We will know the fragile fibers of the events that transpired. I look forward to 2009, keeping in mind that it is the New Year that time will carefully shape into the eventual "Knew" Year down the road. Knew; the past tense of know.
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