Happy New Year 2025!

Mel Makaw.

Well, we made it through another year. Although 2024 was a difficult one in many ways, it was also a good one in other ways. It was a year full of surprises and loss, rewards and disappointments, hope and despair. Many ups and downs. Just like most years.

Usually when a new year rolls around and we all put up our new calendars, I like to write a rah-rah-sis-boom-bah column about the joy of possibilities; never mind what went before, the new calendar is a clean slate! A time for new beginnings! Out with the old, in with the new! Look ahead! Leave the past behind! Start over!

But that gets harder every year, quite frankly, as every year seems to have its own peculiar difficulties and challenges, both personally and on a larger worldly scale, and a simple new calendar year doesn't always specifically offer much in the way of hope.

In other words, like many of us, after a few years of being absolutely hopeful that the new year was going to be better than the last one, I find myself approaching 2025 with mixed feelings, finding both positive expectations and harsh reality side by side in my heart and in my mind.

I mostly have my typical optimism in there, as I am prone to have, but I'm finding it tempered with knowing too much about what new trials or challenges the new year may have in store for us. So, in the spirit of keeping the faith while keeping my fingers crossed and my hooded, wary eyes on the horizon, I find myself preparing for more ups and downs while keeping hope alive and in the forefront, and planning for the best. I intend to have a good 2025.

I mean, why not? We all know that difficulties may come our way this year – the big-picture ones we can't control, and the smaller, more personal ones we also can't always foresee or control – but we can't forget that no matter what there is always something to be thankful for, something to feel good about, something to celebrate.

I choose to think of 2024 as maybe not the best year of my life, but as a pretty good year in so many ways. I choose not to dwell on the disappointments or setbacks, but instead to think about how I had many memorable experiences with some pretty wonderful people, and how I expect that to continue into this new year. No matter what else may be going on, I know 2025 will include new experiences and making new memories, including good ones I may or may not be expecting (I love surprises), and lots of good times with good people I know and love.

It may sound trite but it's true: it's the people in our lives that matter, and it's the little things that matter most; it's the little moments with special people that we remember and treasure, and it's all in how we approach our lives and how we deal with what happens to us that makes the difference. We love our big events and celebrations – and those go on every year – but we also need to love and enjoy and celebrate those small moments in our lives, the ones that happen every day that we so often take for granted. Small moments, especially with loved ones, are really huge, if you think about it.

Life is hard sometimes, and the future that is unfolding right now in this new year is uncertain and scary for many of us, but those small personal moments will continue, and they will keep us sane. I choose to rejoice in the special people in my life and look forward to the special small moments I have with them, and I will celebrate and treasure them every chance I get.

I know life can seem a bit overwhelming sometimes, too, and while change is inevitable – sometimes good, sometimes not so much – we don't always embrace it. But rah-rah-sis-boom-bah, the calendar has changed over, and we are off and running in a brand-new year. My choice is to ultimately find joy in anticipation today and everyday – looking forward this year to lots of laugh-out-loud and special quiet moments, along with shout-it-to-the-rafter happenings. I can and will do that today because how I look at things and how I react to things that happen to me is, bottom line, all up to me.

Happy New Year to you all! And may you find joy and cherished memories in both the little moments and the big ones that 2025 brings you!

© 2025 Mel Makaw. Mel, local photographer/writer and author of On the Bright Side, a collection of columns (available locally at Tehachapi Arts Center), has been looking on the bright side for various publications since 1996. She welcomes your comments at [email protected].