As this year draws to a close and we all prepare for 2012 I would like to wish all my readers and fellow bloggers joy and prosperity in 2012.
It would be easy to look back on 2011 and remember a number of horrendous natural disasters, the nuclear incident in Japan. Arab Spring, revolutions, riots, state sponsored assassinations, the worldwide depression and failing relationships between the USA and countries like Pakistan and Iran. If this is what you remember then you will be correct in saying 2011 was a terrible year.
Conversely, you may remember events such as the British Royal Weddings, the young Indonesian girl who was reunited with her family 7 years after being swept away by the 2004 Tsunami, the centenarian who ran a marathon. the Social project being rolled out across the world to use plastic bottles and bleached water to provide light in shanty town houses. the withdrawal of US troops from Iraq, a number of crucial advances in medicine and for all the kids out there (big and small) the screening of the last of the Harry Potter films. Look at the world this way and it has been a truly great year.
As we move into 2012, I hope that each of us can find more of the positive things to look back on during the year. Many people will be making their New Year’s resolutions, mine will be to take more opportunities to stop and admire (and give thanks for) the view as the year passes. By this I mean I want to take more time to spend with those I love, doing the things I like to do. Hopefully this will include doing more with my Family, Church and the Guernsey Chronic Pain Support Group and Guernsey Poets.
Finally it would be remiss of me to leave 2011 without saying huge THANK YOU to all the family, friends and medical specialists who have helped me to manage my life living with the constant burden of CRPS. I am certain that had it not been for them I would not be here to write this blog.
This is a Poem I wrote after Last Year’s New Year Celebrations.
New Year
The nation watches the clock expectantly,
looking forward.
Westminster Quarters sound the full hour.
The nation waits…..
The hammer strikes;
The Great Bell rings out.
Its discordant chime radiates across London
to the far flung corners of the land.
A mighty cheer goes up,
Fireworks race towards the sky
trailing sparkling ribbons of light
before exploding in a myriad of colours.
Amidst the cacophony the remaining chimes pass unheard.
As the dancing reflections on the Thames fade,
strangers clasp hands
voices lift to the strain of Auld Lang Syne
and thoughts reflect the year behind.
John Carré Buchanan
02 January 2011
