Once again, the new year is upon us. Last year contained some slow days, some good days, some bad days; but overall the year seems to have flown by. No matter what happened in any given year, I’m always glad to see the back of it, and always welcome in the New Year with open arms and hopes for a better year.

Long ago I gave up New Year resolutions as they seem trite and people rarely keep them. If you plan to change something in your life just do it, if you can, regardless of the time of year. I also gave up any naïve wishes of peace on Earth and goodwill blah blah blah; people are too different, too many different religions, languages, belief systems, needs, morals… It’ll never happen.

Going off on a tangent, I think that’s why I always liked the premise of Star Trek, especially the earlier versions. Roddenberry had a vision of a world at peace, a world where people had meaningful employment, no wars, no disease, and no hunger on planet Earth. Basically, a Utopian society. Of course, there was often conflict from alien races and planets, but Earth was doing all right, mainly. A message of hope prevailed.

That’s how I always feel about the New Year; hopeful of a better year to come, for everyone.

Whatever your beliefs, or religion, colour, ethnicity… I wish you a Happy New Year!