As we step into 2020, I’ve been thinking about the passing of decades. The first time we reached a new decade that I was aware of was 1970. Fifty years ago. I can hardly believe it’s been that long. I remember reading lists of events that had happened during the 60s in the newspaper, along with the acknowledgment that the decade belonged to The Beatles. That was exciting news to me—Hey, I was a teenager and a rabid Beatle fan, so it’s no surprise that seeing The Beatles, along with Woodstock, the Miracle Mets, and the first moon landing on that list made me happy. The world was changing in wonderful ways and it felt like my generation was high on the crest of that wave.
The 80s, 90s, & 2000s have all had their memorable events, both for the world and on a personal level. I’d venture to say that over the years we’ve all had our share of good times as well as the not so good ones. While we may not have reached the future we were promised as kids watching “The Jetsons” and “Star Trek,” we have certainly come a long way, and been the inspiration of some of the technology we depend on every day. Those communicators inspired our cell phones and isn’t it an interesting coincidence that Siri and Alexa have sexy feminine voices like the computers on the Starship Enterprise?
As the young woman looking toward the future back in 1970, I believed we were really going to give peace a chance, that we’d come together to keep our planet safe, that in the not too distant future there would be equal rights for all, no matter your sex, religion, or the color of your skin. I’m sure it was naive to think we might get close to the ideals of a perfect world, but I was young and full of hope.
The older (and hopefully wiser) me still looks at the coming of the new decade with hope, but is not so naive as I was fifty years ago. We have come far and yet we have so much further to go. We seem to have taken steps backward recently. The current atmosphere is one of divisiveness, with greed, violence, cruelty, and plain mean-spiritedness on the rise. It breaks my heart and I often wonder what happened to the spirit of my generation that chorused, “All you need is love.”
It is my hope that somehow, we’ll come together. I look toward the future with hope that the young people of the world will keep stepping up with the passion that only the young can truly muster and force us to make the changes we need. I hope they keep pushing they rest of us to stop the senseless killings and gun violence and to pay attention to what we’re doing to our planet. I hope they continue to shine the light on inequality and stand up for what is good and right. We need them to get us back to where we once belonged.
And yes, if you noticed the musical references, you were meant to; as someone who grew up in the decade that belonged to the Beatles, those songs helped shape me and still live in my heart. All you need is love is still a pretty damn good anthem, if you ask me.
May 2020 bring us perfect vision so we can see the world as it should be & make our blessings obvious to us all.
A VERY HAPPY & HEALTHY NEW YEAR TO EVERYONE!
Well said Elise. Let’s hope it’s a good one, without any fears. Happiness and health for 2020!!!?
Amen! And thank you for stopping by to read and comment!