In the 16 years I’ve been doing this blog, I’ve never repeated an “end of the year musical close out” – until last year. In past years, I’ve welcomed in the new year with Teena Marie, Fleetwood Mac, Gerry Rafferty, k.d. Lang, Billy Joel, Roberta Flack, The Temptations and others. For 2020, I featured Pentatonix and frankly, 2020 was a disaster. Now whether 2020 was bad because I used Pentatonix is not important. Last year, I swore I’d never use Pentatonix again to bring in a new year because…because I’m petty like that, I guess.
So last year I repeated using The Temptations from 2014 and while 2021 wasn’t great, it wasn’t as bad as it could have been. So, from that small data pool you can draw your own conclusions. Rational or not, I certainly drew mine.
As 2021 comes to a close, I decided that my last post of the year would be another grounding one – for me. I remember Stevie Wonder’s first musical hit, Fingertips. I wasn’t stuck by the fact he was blind. I was amazed that he was my age and on his way to being far more wealthier than I’d ever be. He was eleven years old when he did Fingertips, Pt. 2, and he has not stopped creating since and my life has been richer because of that.
This year I’m offering Stevie Wonder performing in Paris in 2018 as the new year’s musical welcome. I take comfort in the songs he performed such as Don’t You Worry ‘Bout A Thing (which sadly is becoming a mantra for me) and Another Star (which hold personal significance for me and my grandchildren).
2021 wasn’t the disaster that 2020 was, but it was close. There is no sugar coating that. I continued to lose friends and relatives to COVID-19 because they didn’t trust the vaccine or a Government that told them it was safe. 2021 saw a continuation of the politicization of mask wearing. It was a year where perpetuation of the “The Big Lie” made wearing a mask to prevent transmission of the virus a political statement as opposed to a health one.
The Big Lie that the 2020 election was “stolen” also led to a near successful insurrection against the United States Government on January 6, 2020. Faith in Government institutions was tested and sometimes fractured, but not completely broken. I’m not naïve, but I still believe as Dr. King and Reverend Theodore Parker said, “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.” I am confident that justice will be served on all those who deserve it for their actions in threatening our democracy.
As for me, my medical challenges continue, but I’m still here and that’s all that matters at the moment. I survived 2021 and hope to survive 2022. The music of Stevie Wonder will sustain me and keep me moving forward. Thus, I share it with you. I remain convinced that we must always look forward regardless of how dark things may seem because tomorrow will always be better than today. You can’t appreciate the light until you’ve experienced the darkness.
My goal in 2022 will be to pay more attention to the music of my life and less attention to the noise of the world. (And I continue to hope 2022 will be less noisy).
Happy New Year! I’ll be back to a more or less regular posting schedule starting January 24, 2022!
