Transition words

So, as we close one year and enter the next, I am not marking the calendrical milestone by talking about indeed, further, or moreover, but rather about life and the movement from one state to another.

Last year I turned 60; that seemed significant. Can I still call myself middle-aged? It seems a little presumptuous, but who knows? But now I get a discount at Value Village on Tuesdays.

Last year I became a homeowner again, for the first time since the 1980s. In the crazy, overheated real estate market of the Salish Sea region it seemed the prudent thing to do, although I have no cultural tradition of real property ownership and don't connect "owning a home" to "success" in any way. Coco and I love where we are, and that's really the best part.

But I guess the biggest transition of the year, at least professionally, is this:

I have been spending the last few weeks in a liminal space: my six-month interim appointment officially begins on January 1, but the previous VPI has been for all practical purposes gone since December 15, so for this already off-kilter winter holiday period, with several days off, students gone, lots of people on vacation, and so on, I have been transitioning from deano to veepo (to use Coco's terminology). So far, so good; but all that really means is that my office is organized and some small fires have been put out. The real challenges will come when school gears up again this week.

I am looking forward to my new role; there's a lot of work to be done and I am not walking into a picnic, but I think I can accomplish some good things for the students and for the institution.

***

There is of course one transition that did not occur last year: the transfer of power in the federal government away from the current executive and into saner, more responsible hands.

I have been at the same time heartened and discouraged by the political scene over the past year. There has been an awakening of political consciousness the likes of which has not been seen in a long time. Starting with the Inauguration Day marches and continuing with on-ground and digital activism throughout the year, and evidenced by such things as the growth of support for the ACLU, it seems that people are starting to wake up and demand real change in the way we do government in our country. At the same time, the entrenchment of the two-party system combined with my lack of faith in the Democratic Party to deviate from its neoliberal agenda in any meaningful way, along with the hurdles of the influence of big money in the system and the effects of years of gerrymandering, make me wonder if there's any hope.

I would hate to see the USA get to the point where violence or extra-governmental actions are necessary to restore sanity and balance, but with the increasing gap between the rich and the poor, the apparent challenges to critical thinking in public discourse, and the increasing toothlessness of the watchdog press, I sometimes wonder if we're not headed there. The 2018 midterm elections are going to be incredibly important in determining the fate of this country. I have my fingers crossed.

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This focus on these changes in the immediate and wider outer world has distracted me a bit from the usual backward- and forward-looking inner reflections traditional at the new year. I did look back at my Woody Guthrie hommage resolutions from last year, and wasn't too disappointed in how things have turned out. I expect that that the coming year will have more of the same thrust: trying to balance managing a demanding professional life, exploring personal creativity and productivity, and participating in the political process. How do I do all that and still find time to binge-watch all these series that everyone keeps talking about?

These two help a lot: Coco and Selkie, the other two-thirds of my little family. Thanks for the love.

And thanks to all my friends and family: I have been blessed with an abundance of loving and caring folks in my life and those connections are really what it's all about. Here's to a new year of promise and positivity for us all. And let's remember the value of empathy and compassion, okay?