“I heard a bird sing
A magical thing
And sweet to remember.
‘We are nearer to Spring
Than we were in September,’
I heard a bird sing
In the dark of December.”
– Oliver Herford, I Heard a Bird Sing
…and so, we are already seeing the days lengthen as we enter January, the month named for the Roman god Janus. Janus is represented with two faces looking in opposite directions: as retrospective to the past and prospective to the coming year. He is known as the god of doors and gateways. Here in the Northern Hemisphere, as the darkest days of December close the door on the past year, January opens the door to light and the excitement of possibilities for the next year.
As I was pondering the days becoming shorter through December, I thought it was a bit like the ending of an old movie…you know, when it “fades to black.” We can review the year, credit the main characters and the role they played, rate the storyline, and decide if it was a “pan” or a “rave.” The good thing about life is that we get to write sequels every January, just like Rocky, Harry Potter, and Star Wars (hopefully not so much like the Halloween series or Nightmare on Elm Street!). Who will be in the cast, what’s the potential plot, how will the main characters develop as they draw motivation from their experience in the last movie? As Shakespeare says, “All the world’s a stage and all the men and women merely players.”
Go ahead—write your own script for the next year. Pan or Rave? You will be the critic.
—Written by Program Coordinator, Bernadine Mullin-Splude