Burning the old year, making way for the new

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[Written with Auld Lang Syne stuck in my head — Happy New Year!!]

The past few days, my inbox has been stuffed with 2024 wrap ups and reflections. What can I say? Mine was a good example of “When humans make plans, God laughs.” And you know what? That’s fine! I’ve been reminding myself of the Chinese parable often retold as “Bad luck, good luck, who knows?” So, as I emerge from this Betwixtmas on the cusp on a fresh year, I find myself unwilling to resolve much. However, that isn’t to say that there isn’t room for reflection.

If there’s one thing I can say about this year, it’s that best laid plans are a joke. I remember setting out so many resolutions this time a year ago, imagining the way our lives would be unfolding in London for the years to come. LOL! Instead, we are living nomadically, a seemingly inescapable fate of mine, while figuring out where to settle down. I will not quote Pema Chödrön again, except to say, our unfinished business knows where to find us.

2024 did bring a lot of good. We brought a (wild) puppy into our lives. My niece was born! We explored Wales. I stopped having a bad reaction to gluten!!! I figured out that being in community should be a driving force as I construct my life. I read many, many fantastic books. I finished my master’s degree. And yet, it was an extremely tough year that left its marks. I’m reticent to delve into this too much, because it’s not just my story to tell, but I will say I appreciate those who can hold the highs and the lows of the year at once. Wouldn’t it be nice to say good riddance to toxic positivity in 2025? It’s okay to say it was just an okay year!

I love what poet Naomi Shihab Nye says in her poem “Burning the Old Year”:

So much of any year is flammable,
lists of vegetables, partial poems.
Orange swirling flame of days,
so little is a stone.

Perhaps most of all, I’m looking forward to having more space for Othertongue in the coming year, now that grad school is wrapped. To this end, I am sharing a short survey to learn about what you want most from this newsletter. If you fill it out, I will comp three months paid subscription (or add it to your existing subscription, if you are a paid subscriber, already). And if you’re willing to also jump on a 15-minute Zoom call with me, I’ll comp the entire year! This project is born out of my love for and training in service-oriented journalism—I want to deliver useful and interesting content that you are excited to open.

I’ll leave you with this exquisite section of “To the New Year” by my favorite poet, W.S. Merwin:

so this is the sound of you
here and now whether or not
anyone hears it this is
where we have come with our age
our knowledge such as it is
and our hopes such as they are
invisible before us
untouched and still possible

See you next year! Thanks again for reading.