It's a New Year - Who Cares

I didn’t originally want to write a New Year’s themed post. I’m not a big New Year’s Eve person. I don’t like staying up late, even when there’s a reason to do so. I’m not a big partier (see previous post about being uncool), so the holiday holds no appeal. I do like a resolution though. I know the practice has become unpopular, especially to folks who question the diet industry. I get that. I can still hear the Jenny Craig jingles from the 90s. It went, “Call 1-800-94-Jenny,” and they would change the middle number to match the year each Resolution Season. So damn catchy.

I never followed a plan like that, not one I’d have to pay for. I had a few years where I started the year on a high-intensity workout plan or a highly restrictive eating plan. Those were usually ditched or altered by mid-February, but honestly, I don’t remember. They didn’t stick. For me, it was never about weight loss or reinvention. Starting the year with a plan felt good. It felt hopeful in a way winter does not. Midwestern February can be brutal, but what’s worse are the Marches and Aprils when it snows, or when you get a couple of days of sunshine and then plunge back below zero with no sign of change. Having a plan makes staring down the barrel of endless winter months a little more bearable. 

Anything that makes a person feel hopeful right now is a gift. Last week, ICE murdered a woman in Minneapolis. People are in uproar, sure, but it doesn’t feel any more uproarious than previous atrocities that led to zero change. Two weeks ago, the president committed an act of war on a sovereign nation and appears ready to occupy said nation, and no one, not major “journalism” publications like the New York Times or Washington Post, seem that concerned about it. How this escapes raising articles of impeachment from Congress will be an interesting circus performance. 

There’s no trust in our national or federal institutions, so that’s the main influence on my outlook of 2026 so far. This time last year, I, like a lot of people, was still in shock and maybe mourning. There was so much uncertainty in what was to come. Now, we’re a little wiser and more hardened, right? Our eyes are open, and we’re not surprised by whatever new abomination this man and his administration think up. We’re more willing to act, we’re looking for solutions, and we’re ever in search of slivers of hope.

Anyway, this is the backdrop, the stream of thoughts going through my mind as I try to go back to normal life after this holiday break. We were in holiday joy land, trying not to let the news of the world get us down while we created magic for our kids, and now, everyone is back to work and school. The sky is gray, and the houses that still put on their Christmas lights in the evenings somehow make me sadder. Forcing joy, or holding on to memories of it, cheapens the life out of it. And trump is falling asleep in press conferences about the illegal invasion of Venezuela, and instead of calling for justice for Renee Good, is making jokes about how women look while lifting weights, as if he knows anything about lifting weights. Meanwhile, those in a position to respond - journalists who can report accurate news to the nation, Congress who can start the process of removing this tyrant from office - are sitting on their hands and looking down, (hopefully) ashamed of their own cowardice but still unwilling to act.

And I know - I know - you didn’t sign up to read my political beliefs. You signed up to read about being a mom and former athlete and whatever, but Jesus Christ, it hurts to sit down and try to write something that doesn’t feel true. It’s all woven together, and not a day, not an hour, goes by that doesn’t have me thinking about my workout schedule and my kids schedule AND the apparent impending downfall of our nation.

I didn’t make a real resolution last year. I guess I won’t this year either since the year has already begun, but intentional community is going to be the name of the game for me. I want to seek out people who feel safe to be around, who bring peace. I don’t mean I only want to hang out with people who agree with me, but there are those who challenge with the intention of tearing others down, and there are those who challenge in order to build people up. 

When they look back on this time, wondering what people were writing about at the end of America, wondering what we were doing, they will find mundane stuff like this. We were walking our dogs, tending to the needs of our kids, and going to work everyday. Maybe they’ll sense our heavy hearts. Maybe they’ll see our need for closeness, community, friendship. Hopefully they won’t assume we were all on board with the administration of wanton disregard for its citizens, that condones the murder of protestors and stirs up needless international conflict.

I don’t say “the end of America” to be melodramatic. I don’t know how we can keep going from here. Not unless we get smarter, more passionate about the fate of our nation, and more active really soon. I’m so angry. Not a violent anger that’ll flame out in a day or a week. It’s a low boil that’ll carry for a long time. We can’t get sad right now. And we can’t assume something will save us all and do nothing. Together, we need to join in collective action. How can we not?