Day 8 - the second Monday of the new year

 Today is the 2nd day of the 2nd week, the 8th day of the 1st month, the 8th day of 2024 [at what point do we stop calling it a new year?], and:

• Argyle Day
• Bubble Bath Day
• Earth's Rotation Day - proven in 1851 by Foucault's pendulum [unless you insist the earth is flat]
• Midwife's Day
• National Career Coach Day
• National Clean Off Your Desk Day
• National English Toffee Day
• National Gluten-Free Day
• National JoyGerm Day
• National Man Watcher's Day
• National Winter Skin Relief Day
• Plough Monday - interesting that they blackened their faces with soot to make themselves unrecognizable, I'm guessing in this day and age that would not be considered appropriate 
• Show and Tell Day at Work
• Snuggle a Chicken Day - yes there are folks who consider their chickens pets
• War on Poverty Day
• World Typing Day

Quote of the day:
"The universe seems neither benign nor hostile,merely indifferent."

~  Carl Sagan 

Well the good news is that we [despite the teachings of various and sundry religious leaders] haven't done anything to deserve our fate.  What happens to us is not ladled out as punishment or even karmic burden.  And in further good news, we have the ability to change ourselves, our circumstances, our environment, and therefore our reality.

The bad news?  what is this "we" I speak of?  How can one individual become a fulcrum of change, overcoming the inertia of momentum, changing the tide of history, and wrenching our reality into a new dimension?  

At the moment, the strongman seems to be the leader many want.  He is not changing anything, he is riding the surf of our worst impulses.  Somehow he manages to tap into a deep well in our psyche that whispers "they" are polluting "our" culture, damaging "our" people, taking over "our" country, and "they" must be stopped - and only he has the answers.  Who are "they"?  anyone different from "us" [and the definition of "us" changes very rapidly].  How do we stop the strongman without becoming just like him?

My friend has often bemoaned that God or fate [if they exist] should intervene to stop the current strongman candidate, "asking where are they?"  To that I have replied invariably replied that God [or fate] helps those who help themselves.  Personally I believe there are more who believe in the rights of all people to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness than those who believe those rights are restricted, but we'll see, neh?

Meanwhile, it is Monday

There are still EOM/EOQ/EOY reports to get through.  There are still auditors' questions to answer.  And there is still daily business being conducted.

And altho this is a full five day week, next weekend offers a brief respite with a three day weekend [for those lucky enough to be paid for federal holidays]. 

2024 rolls onwards.