When the champagne is all but a carpet stain and the confetti is swept, we can fully engage in moving forward. Right?
Welcome to January, or, as they say ‘round here, “Only four months till Derby!”
Philosophically speaking, I hope to enter 2014 with the tradition of looking back and looking forward – reflection and reinvention.
With the smoky wax fragrance from my birthday candles still lingering in the air, I’ve found this calendar start is less about who I am, and more about where I am.
In just a few years, I’ll go from a child of the ‘60s to a child who is 60.
My generation straddles an interesting gap that is in continuous flux. We’re in an age where we can be momentarily defined by a cell-phone “selfie” or forever cherished in a shiny black-and-white Kodak (a favorite of mine is me in a boomer-style snowsuit – with actual snow, which often covered the Commonwealth decades ago).
We’re in the middle of high-tech magic and retro-nostalgia. How I went from hi-fi to sci-fi is simply a blur.
If January were a turntable, imagine dragging the stylus across vinyl and swapping “Auld Lang Syne” for Bowie’s “Changes.”
One never knows. Recently, in nanny mode, while reading to a toddler I was asked to “pause” the book so she could go to the potty. Some little ones seem confused when I go to the trouble to turn the page instead of rubbing the image like on their parent’s touch screen – just a gentle reminder that, culturally, I’m trapped between a rotary dial and ID implants and there’s nothing I can to about it.
Moving on ...
All ages resonate with the tug-of-war that is January, with loss on one end of the rope and gain on the other. It proves our strengths and weaknesses as we cope with death, finance, romance, social standing and weight.
We sign up for athletic gym memberships with body and soul. Give of yourself, take the risk. Hold on tightly, let go. Expand, tighten up. I’m worn out by February!
As a scribe, I’m at my best when talking to people, so this year I’m taking some editorial and social direction from the Dalai Lama: “The planet does not need more successful people. The planet desperately needs more peacemakers, healers, restorers, storytellers and lovers of all kinds.”
Criteria for 2014? Check! These are the kinds of folks I’d like to meet, follow and engage – in print and in life – throughout 2014.
The opportunity to ponder out loud has been provided by this space in The Highlander. Thanks for your input over the past year of “On the Lamb” columns, as they have been cobbled together aided by your thoughts and experiences.
So, look back if you must, look ahead if you can, but join me in the middle of the moment as it happens. And may your ability to share be as strong as your talent for listening.
Cindy Lamb’s vocations of journalism, child birth and child care keep the lights on and the stories flowing. Contact her at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .