The Most Human of Years

2017 is wrapping up shortly

and I think it’s appropriate to

recognize it for what it truly was;

The Most Human of Years.

I believe 2017 was the most human

of years simply because it reflected

what is the most common and universal

trait of all humans, our capacity to

err.

2017 was filled with so many

Oops-a-daisies and whoops-a-doodles,

it’s amazing we made it to the end.

From baffling election results to even

more baffling election results; our all too

human flaws were showing.

I feel 2017 was a raw nerve, finally exposed,

and we were doing everything we could

to keep people from poking at it. Sometimes,

we didn’t do it right and wound up just making

a grand mess of things. Or just lied about it.  

2017 was filled with backtracking, corrections,

re-evaluations, tactical reversals, contrarian

explanations, and general outrages over the lack

of outrage.  The human year, was a jumble of

emotions and thoughts, all running around

like kids at recess, screaming and shouting.

If 2017 were to have an image to represent

it, I would have to choose a giant finger pointing

at, “the other guy”.  It would seem the most reasonable

since we attempted to deflect any mistakes onto,

“the other guy”, for the majority of the year.

It is my hope that 2018 is The Year We Learn

From Our Mistakes. I know that the pessimism of

2017 will mark the first part of 2018, as the old year

can leave quite a bruise. Yet I remain hopeful in the face

of our collective humanity that we’ll do better, be better,

and rise above our common frailties.

Here’s to a New Year and the human capacity

to find hope in the darkest of places, valor against

the most difficult challenges and recognize the

humanity in our humanness.