2022 And All That

I leave 2022 with a lot less confidence in the future than at any time in my whole life . . . maybe because I've always been disappointed when I looked forward.  I wrote earlier this year how I pretty much gave up on a lot of my ambitions - foreign travel, reconnecting with friends, getting a better job - mainly because of the pandemic (which, last I checked, is about to rev up again).   I've even given up on small things, like going to the movies or art museums - especially in New York, thanks to a local bus line that's drastically reduced its schedule to favor commuters over daytrippers. 

Now, more than ever, I've given up on activism and causes.  I continue to unsubscribe from the e-mailing lists of issue-oriented and liberal activist groups, fleeing them like a vampire from a cross.  If anyone dares to ask me what I' like to volunteer to do for issues such as a fairer tax system, support for the arts, support for public education, or even abortion or climate change, my answer is nothing.  Like Ebenezer Scrooge, I don't wish to remain anonymous, I wish to be left alone.  The causes people try to sign me up for either do not concern me or are too daunting a battle to fight.  I've had it.  I don't want to get involved anymore.

I'd love to change the world, dude, but I'm leaving it up to you.

Nothing underscores my attitude more than my end of promoting Martin O'Malley for President.  After being disappointed by presidential candidates I'd enthusiastically supported who won, I was even more disappointed - and disgusted, in fact, by how advocating for O'Malley's 2016 presidential candidacy turned out, especially when it became apparent that he lost any ambition he had for the Presidency or any other office after serving as governor of Maryland.  Considering how horribly he was treated as a presidential candidate, I don't blame him for quitting politics.  Although he continues to be an advocate for causes such as abolishing the death penalty - and good for him, I say - I'm so disillusioned that I can no longer support not only causes but candidates as well.  I will vote for candidates for office but I will do no more than that.  Don't expect me to be a cheerleader for any candidate for office ever again. 

I hope I get my mojo back in 2023.  Maybe I'll get that fresh start I always hope to get at the start of a new year, a new month, and a new week (January 1 being on Sunday and all) all at once.  Maybe I'll finally get to have again the life that COVID robbed from me three years ago.  But for now, I've had enough.

Happy new year.  See you 'round the clubs.