So, I spent the entire 2023 year prison, which seemed like an absolute time warp. Last New Year's Day, I sincerely asked for forgiveness from anyone that I may have hurt and solemnly focused the year on restorative and rehabilitated goals. Being isolated from the much technology is a challenge, especially since I enjoy learning about the newest advances. Since I've been living in a prison bubble, I have yet to engage with ChatGPT or any of the exciting generative AI tools that made quite the tsunami of innovation throughout 2023. 2023 was alcohol-free, fast food-free, cell phone-free, meme-free, social media-free! It was an untethered year for me. Yet, so much has happened in the past year (as it does year after year). From loss of too many loved ones to healthy births to monumental birthday celebrations, I missed so much! Prison is definitely not worth the time away from family and friends. Oh, and so many major domestic and international events transpired that I had limited information about!
Turmoil does not discriminate. For 2023, everywhere seemed to be in some sort of turmoil that reigned havoc on innocent lives. Several stories have really struck me over the past year, but none have churned my stomach like the civilian casualties especially the women and children of the erroneous wars in Ukraine, Gaza and other militaristic assaults in Sudan, Haiti, Venezuela, China, India, etc. Most recently, much attention has been given to the Israel/Hama conflict. After Hamas' attack on Israel in October, the mess just seemed to spiral in every direction impacting so many aspects of our daily lives. Political finger-pointing, college/University presidents were scrutinized for "official" stances, calls for action and peaceful resolution were promoted for Israel to cease fire, and many nations negotiated for the release of hostages - the innocent!
Throughout this ordeal, one incident captured and compartmentalized the chaos of this lose/lose situation: Upon receiving a written note of "help" and the inscription "SOS, 3 Hostages" scraped into the Gazan sand, Israeli soldiers cautiously approached the targeted area with the presumption that these "calls for help" were traps. Waving a white sheet, three shirtless men in their 20s emerged from a half-crumbling building. The Israeli soldiers opened fire, instantly killing two of the men while the third moved quickly behind a barrier. The gunshots ceased. The third man called for help to the soldiers and identified himself as a hostage. The commanding officer ordered a complete ceasefire and instructed the third man to come forth with his hands in the air. As told, the third man crept around the barrier just as two soldiers began to fire upon him since those two soldiers apparently did not hear the "do-not-fire" command. All three hostages killed by the same Israeli soldiers that were ambitiously searching for them. The irony of the whole incident ought to be an omen - everyone loses in war. After admitting that an accidental misunderstanding/miscommunication happened, Israel simply dismissed any blame indicating that the they learned how to approach hostages the next time and applaud the soldiers for following orders given the dire circumstances of the environment.
Upon their discovery, three kidnapped Israeli citizens thought they were going to be liberated after two months of barbaric confinement. Then, their own soldiers slaughtered them in their most vulnerable moment (surrendering unarmed, half-clothed, and malnourished/starved). Life is too precious for misunderstandings or miscommunications to cause the end of any life. This story was how I internalized the media bombardment of depressing news reports of 2023! So, 2024 for me is a year of hope and healing! Not just personally, but for our nation and our world. My focus for the year will continue to remain vigilant for little miracles, but to seek opportunities that promote hope and healing instead of focusing on the doom and gloom!
Brief Update: For New Year's Eve, the new band played a concert, which took about 45 minutes to cover 10 songs. The guys really seemed to enjoy the music and the musical selection. No special celebration occurred at midnight. A few guys hollered and whistled when the countdown clock hit 12:00 am, but there were no hugs or kisses (for obvious reasons). For New Year's Day, we were served another delicious meal at 10:30am: 8 buffalo-style chicken wings with celery and carrot sticks, chili French fries, sweet baked beans, two ice-cream sandwiches, and a cupcake. Then, we had Bingo in the afternoon with prizes of popcorn and Gatorade packets. I co-run Bingo, so my inevitable win is payment (a bag of popcorn)!
A new year is exciting. I recently read an insightful self reflection of Marcus Aurelius (he was a pagan emperor about 150 years after Jesus - *thanks my sister for recommending the book). "Even if you're going to live three thousand more years, or ten times that, remember, you cannot lose another life than the one you're living now...the longest life amounts to the same as the shortest one since the present is the same for everyone." For 2024, may you live in the present and may the present be ten times three thousand years! I wish you much health, happiness, many blessings, and lots of miracles in 2024! Stay strong in your resolution and make this New Year the best one yet! Cheers!