Welcome to 2023. Does this new year feel any different than the old one?

If it does, I hope it feels better. This year has so much unrealized potential. I feel as if it is going to be a good one.

I say that every year – I’m an optimist. In print anyway. Or maybe more of a realist in denial.

The past few years I have begun our time together by looking backward, sharing the most popular posts from the previous year. I think I am going to skip that this time around.

For various reasons, I was inconsistent in this space in 2022, and it showed in the popularity of my posts. There was nothing from 2022 in the top 10. So unless there’s an outcry, let’s just head straight into 2023.

Hopefully I will post more frequently than I have the past few months. I blame the decline on the switch away from my Blackberry, but it was probably more than that. I suspect I, like many others, am feeling somewhat of a post-pandemic weariness as the never-ending pandemic drags on. I just want things to be normal again, if we can somehow agree on what normal looks like

There will also be a return to travel posts. I have posted very little from the past few trips I have made. Time to tell some of those stories and share the pictures.

Political commentary will, I expect, be front and centre. Many Canadians are saying our country feels broken. Maybe it is time to explore that, to see if there is truth behind the emotion. (And what does broken mean? We’ll need to start with some common definitions or the discussion won’t amount to much.)

The Rouleau commission will present its report in February on whether the federal government was justified in using the Emergencies Act  to shut down last year’s Freedom Convoy. The reaction to the report may be more interesting than the conclusions Justice Rouleau draws. Will it further polarize society, or will it bring about some unity?

I’m hoping music might play a bigger part in 2023 than it did last year. I didn’t get to many concerts, and when I did I didn’t post reviews here for some reason. I did note crowds were down as many people are reluctant to return to live venues in the aftermath of COVID-19.

As always, there will be random bits and pieces in the news, current events that are just crying for commentary. I expect it will be a busy year.

For many people, today is the day for making resolutions, promises made to improve oneself in the year ahead. Inevitably, most of those resolutions, to eat healthier, to lose weight, to treat others with more respect, are broken by month-end.

That usually isn’t a problem for me. By not making resolutions I avoid the letdown of failing to live up to my own standards. That doesn’t mean I don’t hope to improve in 2023, just that I’m not going to be vocal about goals. Hopefully people will see any differences without my needing to advertise them.

What about you? Anything you want to do better in 2023? Do you want to put that on record?

I’m also open to suggestions for what we do together here. Is there some topic you’d like to see addressed? Send me an email or leave a comment and I’ll see what I can do.

Again, welcome to 2023. Let’s have fun together this year.