Letting Go for 2025 (Brian Katcher)

 

 

Well, the new year will be starting in a few days. And usually it's a time of hope for me. Thinking about all the wonderful things that are going to happen in the next twelve months. All the resolutions I'll never keep, the weight I won't lose, the books I'll write. 

Unfortunately, this upcoming year has a bad feeling to it. Maybe I'm just 'projecting' if you get my drift, but I've let go of  a lot of hope recently. Hope that I felt for the past few months and then lost suddenly.

It's hard to let go of the hope that sustained me though the summer, the hope of a good future. The hope of fewer book bannings, fewer restrictions on women's rights, less racism, less attacks on LGBTQ rights. But that hope has dimmed.

I guess all we, as literary and caring Americans can do is wait and hope. Avoid patronizing businesses that sponsor oppressive politics. Pray, if you do. And above all, vote.

Hopefully, I'll only be letting go of my hope for four years. Maybe two, depending on how the midterms go.