Having just checked back I discovered that since I started on this blog I have a woeful record when it comes to writing anything at the start of the year! Not a single post (until now) written in January of any year. I don’t think there is any particular reason for that – but it is time I broke the pattern. The other good reason for a post this month is that it completes 12 consecutive months with at least one post.<\/p>\n
Considering the previous best was five consecutive months (and that overall I was only averaging slightly less than every other month) that is quite a turn around and, perhaps, indicates that I have finally established this blog as part of “what I do”.<\/p>\n
So we have a new year – however, I have not made any resolutions. Then again, it would be a departure from the norm if I did – whilst I mark the event with the customary sending of greetings to friends and watching\u00a0Only an Excuse\u00a0<\/strong>and\u00a0Hogmanay Live\u00a0<\/strong>on the TV in many respects it really is “just another day”. The fact that changing the calendar is more complicated than usual does not really constitute a “special” day.<\/p>\n It was nice to see the following posted on LinkedIn the other day…<\/p>\n Happy New Year, or for those of you with different traditions, happy arbitrary calendar change \ud83d\ude42<\/em><\/p>\n The idea of it being an “arbitrary calendar change” tickled my fancy!! January 1st is no more of a new year than any other day is.<\/p>\n The older I get the more I realise, I guess, that marking any particular day is less important than the opportunity for a “reason” (or is it an “excuse” in some cases) to do some things that we might be well advised to do more often (or less often………). Online you can find a whimsical calendar of “National Days” which lists several more or less important reasons to celebrate for each day – my first day back at work this year was National Bird Day and National Whipped Cream Day.<\/p>\n Depending on which religion you subscribe to (or not) there are “special” days in the calendar – and, of course, New Year’s day occurs at a quite different time in terms of the Chinese New Year for instance.<\/p>\n I think that I would subscribe to the view that every day is special – every day brings us something new – January 2nd just as much as January 1st. Also – every day poses fresh challenges – things can go wrong any day. If there is an “importance” of Ne’erday it is that it marks the start of another circumference of the big wheel of time – a common marker for all – since for each individual the wheel only completes its turn on their birthday.<\/p>\n So – at this, the start of a “new year”, are there good reasons for writing a meaningful blog post?<\/p>\n What is always important – but is emphasised at this time of year – is the act of “taking stock” of things. A plethora of “review of the year” shows on TV attempt to do this to a certain for quite specific subjects and it is useful for each of us – as individuals – to look around us and determine how things are going.<\/p>\n I want to take just one aspect to talk about here – the importance of understanding differences of scale when determining effect.<\/p>\n In many respects it could be argued that “nothing has changed” in the last year – at the “macro” level that is pretty true – there have been very few ‘significant’ changes over the course of 2015. That is not to say that there have been none, but when looked at with a very wide angle lens, they just do not show up. It is when you start looking at the detail that you see that all is not quite so “stable”.<\/p>\n At work people have left – new people have arrived – I no longer come into contact with some folks – I have made a number of new contacts – so things are continuing in a state of “flux” – but at the macro level the changes are far fewer – or at least are perceived to be fewer. Thing is – when you REALLY think about it – there have been quite “big” changes – its just that none of them seem to have made that much difference.<\/p>\n Elsewhere, it has been a year of “big changes” for quite a few people that I know – changes for the better and changes for the worse – and not a few where big changes have seemingly left them pretty much “in the same place”. I guess that just goes to show that it is futile to worry too much about change before it occurs, since the effects that it has are often highly unpredictable.<\/p>\n When you look more closely, you often find that what seems to have stayed the same has actually changed in all sorts of ways. This is, I guess, particularly true when you put our relationships under a microscope. I don’t expect that there is a single friendship that enters the new year having remained EXACTLY the same for twelve months previously. I certainly cannot think of any of mine that are unaffected by events of 2015.<\/p>\n Most significantly though – and given my firm belief that EVERYTHING that we experience shapes who we are – another twelve month’s worth of experiences have changed each and every one of us. We have all learned much (we have probably also unlearned much – perhaps that is another blog topic) and, in the spirit of this blog – our ignorance has increased. We are no better placed to predict the future – but we have added a new layer of understanding the present.<\/p>\n I hope that this year is another one full of learning opportunities – it would be good to think of 2016 as a year when we became wiser – even though that brings with it yet another expansion of our ignorance.<\/p>\n Prosit Neujahr!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Having just checked back I discovered that since I started on this blog I have a woeful record when it comes to writing anything at the start of the year! Not a single post (until now) written in January of any year. 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