Log in to become a member of Tex Norman's Fan Club!
OK, it is over. The year 2008 is totally, officially, literally gone. We now begin the very human activity of looking back at the year and assessing the year. The activity of appraising an entire year is a little like looking at a painting. If you are too close you can't see it all, so you end up focusing on tiny details, miniscule segments of the whole. When you are too far away all you see is a vague and uninteresting nebulous blur. To see a painting properly you need to be close enough and not too far away, and the same goes for seeing and evaluating a year. It is a little like a spark plug that only works properly when the gap is close enough but not too close to creates a good, proper, effective spark. Comprehending 2008 is further complicated by the fact that most of us do our comprehending with our memories, and memories are not facts, memories are impressions. Memories are like looking at your self in a Fun House mirror. You can tell that you are there in the reflection, but that reflection is bouncing back to you from a warped and distorted surface. As we remember 2008 we must also remember, up front, that those memories will contain truth but it is truth twisted and distorted by our warped minds, and twisted emotions.
While I don't think we can properly appraise the year we begin the process of appraisal immediately anyway. To understand 2008 later will be done by looking at the documentation that took place during the year of 2008, but understand will also come through looking at the initial impressions of 2008. So to assist future historians it is important that we get to sharing our impressions.
Here I make a challenge to all who have experienced 2008. Share your impressions of 2008 in your own Searchwarp essay. If you are new to the Searchwarp site then why not sign up as a new author today!' It is free, fast, and a great way to share your writing and to get reactions and comments. All you need to do is link to the registration page at:
I started thinking that it would be interesting to assess 2008 using a single word. Since I have verbal diarrhea I have opted to describe 2008 in one word at a time. Unfortunate
Catastrophic
Bloody
Bushwhacked
Recession
Embarrassing
Tragic
War
Hope
Intrepid
Obviously one word is not enough to assess an entire year. This year like every year is filled with billions of emotions, incidents, and outcomes. I had an uncle who was all the time sayin': "Any day I wake up above ground is a good day." What my uncle meant it was good to be alive and we should appreciate every moment, every day, and every year that we live, so that would include 2008.
I invite you, I urge you to assess this year. Your insight will provide insight to all who have survived 2008, and may serve as a corrective lens for future generations looking back at this unfortunate, catastrophic, bloody, Bushwhacked, recession dominated, somewhat embarrassing, often tragic, war plagued, intrepid, and still hopeful year.
Tex Norman is a Child Welfare Specialist working in the area of permanency planning. His job is to work with families to eliminate risk factors that have caused their children to come into the Department of Human Services system due to abuse and neglect. He has a number of books published POD through Lulu, and a novel (The Wewoka Switch) and a book of poetry (Portrait of a Poet As A Wild Hare) both are available through on line book sellers like Amazon, Books-a-Million and Barns and Nobel. Tex has been married for 38 years, and is very proud of his 30 year old son, Ryan Norman, who is about to complete his PhD at Princeton University doing research related to the formation of the spinal card.
I have a problem, actually, with the whole New Year thing. I mean, it's pretty arbitrary isn't it? We could roll the year over on June 3rd for all it really matters. Or maybe on my birthday, how about that? :)
Now that I've got that out of the way, here's another. Why look back at all? If it's to learn what not to do in this new year, well that's not a bad idea. But really, if last year was so bad, why revisit it at all? Why not just move forward and resolve to do whatever you can to make your life and the world a better place today? I don't know about most folks, but I already waste enough energy and time on regrets.
Here are my ideas to sum up my year:
Lost something
Found something
Kept something
Because I've used your article to forward a couple of my opinions doesn't mean that I didn't find value in your article. I did. And I always find value in your articles.
Thanks, Tex, and may you and Kathie have a great day, each and every day,
You are one of my favorite people and I'm not sure I don't agree with you. I've been reading a lot of Buddhist psychology books that stress living in the present. I have always preferred a round watch with a minute and hour hand because I thought well it captures everything, the past, the present, and the future. Now I find looking back just makes me feel guilty and looking forward makes me feel worried, so I am trying to live in the NOW. For this reason, I tossed my round watch and wear a digital watch that only shows what the time is right now, right this very moment.
» left by Dianne from Dewey, AZ (293 days 4 hours ago.)
Hi Tex.
Funny you should mention your watch. You probably can't do without one because of the job you have, but even when I was still working outside home, I didn't wear one and still don't. I gave that up years ago because it tied me too much to the past and the future. There is an elegance to time and an analog watch, but I wasn't strong enough not to get sucked up into the whole thing.
"Peace be with all your nows." ... I like that a lot.
Disclaimer: All information on this site is provided for informational purposes only! By no means is any
information presented herein intended to substitute for the advice provided to you by any health care or other professional
or organization.
