New Year’s Day is supposed to be an opportunity to turn over a new leaf. Sure, we all know the change is only symbolic…but, if nothing else, it provides an excuse for us to express some optimism about what the future might bring.

Well, not so much this time around. It’s been a while since I’ve seen people be this worried and apprehensive about the new year–it’s shades of 2020, except on steroids. I would say it’s the sense of looming disaster…except that wouldn’t be exactly true…it’s the sense of multiple looming disasters. Really big ones. There’s been a weird dissonance between watching the typical TV New Year’s Eve celebrations, with cities around the world putting on their fireworks and laser lights and drone formation displays and party music soundtracks…and then turning to the others around the table and getting back to the conversation of “Yeah. It’s going to be bad, isn’t it? It’s going to be bad.”

My family, both my parents and my extended family in Poland, are justifiably worried about the international situation. Will the war in Ukraine continue to painfully grind on? Or will there be a decisive breakthrough? God forbid, will the decisive breakthrough be in favor of Russia? Will a GOP President who doesn’t give a fuck about Ukraine or NATO get elected? If so, what happens to Ukraine…and then what happens to the other nations in the region?

Then there is my sister-in-law, who is thinking about going back to school–in Ireland. And a large part of the reason she wants to do so is because she doesn’t want to be here in the States during the latter part of the election year. Now, I should add that she is a tough woman and has been a political activist for many years, so she is not the type to be easily frightened or driven into apathy. But as she said to us, there is something about the prospect of her own American tribe turning on itself that she can’t stand–as she put it, she would rather be a visitor in someone else’s shitshow.

But when I started talking to a friend about the upcoming election last night, she said that wasn’t what she worried about the most. ”It’s the weather shifts,” she said. Yeah, the weather weirding has been getting worse, and will continue to get worse. Check. 

As for me, I’ve been bundled up on the couch today, reading Rachel Maddow’s Prequel, a Christmas gift from Hubby. It can be a very depressing story–as an immigrant from Europe, I was perhaps a little naive about just how many supporters of fascism there have been in modern American history. Yikes. But it’s also an inspiring story. It’s full of ordinary Americans who stood up to their local Nazis and stopped them from realizing their horrifying plans.

2024 could be like that for a lot of us. The rhetoric coming from the Orange Jesus and his followers is becoming ever more deranged and frightening. This is clearly not going to be the year I decide to quit alcohol or chocolate–Lord knows I’m going to need both of them. But it is the year we’re all going to have to make the New Year’s resolution to get involved, especially in our state and local politics, getting out the vote and supporting candidates. Forget the fad diets. This is way more important.

Is it going to be difficult? Is it going to be scary at times? Yes, yes, it is. I can practically feel myself chewing my nails already. But that is the state of the world right now, and denial won’t help. 

My hope is that if we work and fight against the darkness, we will be able to wish each other a sincere Happy 2025 next year, without either the crippling anxiety or the bleak sarcasm.

For now, wishing you all as much joy as you can find in 2024, and strength for the year ahead.