I lay on my bed with the black laptop in front of me. I twirled a piece of hair around my finger and bit my lip. The black cursor blinked menacingly at me from the blank Microsoft Word page and I pondered my thoughts, hopelessly searching for something to write about. 12:20AM read the clock; 1/2/2010. I sighed. How come the New Year was so depressing? Maybe it was the fact that my best friend was mad at me for not coming to her new year’s party… maybe it was because school was to begin in only 4 short days. Possibly due to the fact that I missed him. Another thing to be depressed about- having someone to miss. The media is sort of gearing up for another year of catastrophe, too.
A headline in the local newspaper I had just read this morning told me “2010- The year to die”. Appalled by the contradicting tone to the usually happy subject of a new year, I read the first paragraph. It implied that it might be helpful or convenient for some families if a relative were to die this year. I was disgusted. I looked longingly over my shoulder at my school bag, peeking out at me was my social studies book which I had thrown in there at the last minute, convincing myself that I could get a head start on the few papers that were due one or two days after break. Silly, the thought was to me now. I glanced back at the blank screen. What to write, what to write… I chewed on my nail in deep thought; finally it drifted back to my after-holiday blues. Why does everyone have to be so darn pessimistic about 2010 just because of some stupid laws, or a crappy economy? True, you may argue that there are some good campaigns out there for the next saga in the book of the world and I wouldn’t disagree. But no one hears about the good anymore, do they?

No one usually gets on the front page for donating to the homeless shelter or staying married for 30 years. (Heck, it’s a miracle if you stay together for 3, this day and age) And if you think about it, it’s all we want to read about, anyway. Don’t kid yourself, you know it’s true. If there was an article on the Make-A-Wish foundation right next to one about Tiger Wood’s latest scandal, we all know what one most of us would pick up and read. It’s a shame, but it’s true.

Maybe this year could be the year that the world tries a little harder to be interested in the good, ignore the jerks that fill the tabloids, perhaps focus on what’s working and use that to fix what’s not. Maybe we can reward the unnoticed do-gooders with the front page instead of the murders who deserve nothing more than the front of a ‘wanted’ poster. We could stop paying bills for a little while to take the kids to a movie or write to an old friend. You may call it wishful thinking or an optimistic thought but there is nothing wrong with dreams. Look where they got Dr. Martin Luther King. Try to laugh at last year and be proud you made it through, because you know that next year, you will be doing just the same to this one. I know we all just got off a rollercoaster called 2009, but it’s 2010 baby, new ups, new downs, and here we are again, seat belts on, hands in the air, head face forward. 3-2-1. Happy new year.
I rested my chin on the side of my laptop and cleared my throat before lifting my head up and glancing at the clock again. 1:00AM. Maybe tomorrow will be more of a success. I mean after all, it’s a new day, with new inspiration and just filled to the brim with possibility. Nothing is a fact until it happens. There is always a chance something will go wrong, but that means that there is also an equal possibility it will go right. Just take it a day at a time and the year will fall into place. I felt a little better, even with a blank screen. My heart was a touch lighter than before and my burdens were put on the back burner for a while. Maybe I might just go to sleep, you never know, you could have a big day ahead of you.