The world we once knew, the world most of us grew up in and worked in, in which those of us who raised families or had careers, that world is about to be gone. In fact, it’s probably been gone for a while but this is the year that things burn and are gone forever.
Perhaps I’m imbued with the symbolism of Southern California on fire, the world of my youth, going up in flames. Or maybe it’s the ashes of my father, who died a few days ago and now are all that remain of his earthly body. Maybe it’s the looming turn of a failed democracy to a dire dictatorship, which will become finalized in fewer days than those were when my father breathed his last.
We live in this world where ideas, opinions, facts, theories, and conspiracies all fly together and all burn together regardless of veracity, reason, or certitude. Burn, baby, burn. I remember reading that Redwoods or Sequoias – some or all of the trees that grow to be among the most ancient living things on this planet, actually need a fire to be born.
As I sit by my fire furnace, keeping warm in the freezing Hokkaido winter, it occurs to me that a little burning might be a good thing for the world as a whole. Not for us who are living in it, but for those who may come later. I suppose the two-thousand year old trees will see it, but I sincerely hope that the billionaires lighting the fires don’t benefit from them any more than they already have.
I declare 2025 to be the year of burning. Burn out that which no longer serves you. Burn out that which hinders your soul. Burn out that which holds you back. Just please be safe about it.
