More succinctly, however, it is my time for a bit of nostalgia.
New years eve, two-thousand and nine, is a pretty big deal - I think. What we have here is the end of a decade. This decade, the naughties, is the decade that I have really grown up in. I remember 10 years ago I was getting ready for the biggest change of dates that was seen in 1000 years - the turn of a new millennia. It was pretty exciting for me. The year 2000 sounded so futuristic. The turn of the century was the first new year that I really remember. It was the first time I tried champagne, and the first time that I stayed up 'til 1.30 in the morning.
The following years huge changes occurred. 10 years has seen me complete my schooling and move into higher education. It has seen me begin many new things, and even been enough time to end the new things. The 10 years are riddled with personal achievements - the highlights and...lowlights.
But these 10 years has also seen huge changes to the global landscape of the world. The internet has taken off, and grown at an astounding rate. Facebook, Youtube, Myspace, Bebo, MSN, Blogger, Google - all of these are household names, terms. My fantastic new phone, purchased at the turn of this decade, now has access to all these sites, and many more. The social landscape has changed entirely.
The naughties also saw September 11 in 2001. When my parents told me of this I never realised the true implications of the event. Yet still we feel the effects of this event - eight years later.
Environmentally, global warming has gone from the realm of hardcore environmentalists to front page populist news.
But that's the big picture decade - viewable in the essay section of any major newspaper. This blog is really about myself and my year.
War followed and has been a part of our headlines for eight years now.
***
Passion has never really been a concept that I have put too much thought into. Whenever I heard the word passion I tended to think of a passionate relationship - a person to person relationship - and looked upon it cynically as just some overblown Hollywood concept.
The way you see many things changes as you go through life. All of you already know that, no doubt. This year - 2009 - has seen me change the way that I see many things and perhaps passion is perhaps one of the most pronounced of these. It shares the stage with other concepts, but for the purposes of this blog - passion is in the spotlight.
When I think about 2009 I think about one thing in particular - my first year at university. Now I have constructed for myself a pretty idealistic view of uni. I really like it. It's a great place to get my learn on, it's stimulating and it's full of interesting (though pretty damn pretentious) people (I fit it rather well). But what I like most about uni is the passion.
I am being taught by people who have devoted years of their lives to studying, exploring and teaching different, narrow and highly detailed sections of human knowledge. I think it takes a great deal of something to be able to do that. And I think that something has to be passion.
Now...I guess I always knew that people had their passions...but I never knew just how powerful a concept passion really was. We have here something that drives people to examine the most intricate and almost irrelevant knowledge to a subject that many would be surprised even existed. There are entire bodies of work devoted to riverbank erosion on the Bangladesh delta, the social construction of nationalism, the way we structure identity online. Each area has hundreds of texts, several books, and endless discussions between a number of academics.
Suddenly I could see and explore the results of incredibly passionate people and I understood just what a powerful force passion can be.
Though it took academic passion to make me realise what passion can be, I now acknowledge that it is not the only form of passion, and all forms are just as likely to result in wonderful things - be it on a personal relationship level, or on a global knowledge level. This year I have met people this year who are incredibly passionate about the natural environment - taking great strides to change the perceptions of the greater population. I have made friends with people who are passionate about music and the power it has to bring people together. I have been taught by someone who knows more about Vietnamese culture than the probable majority of the Vietnamese.
These are people are individuals who can change the way other people relate to each other. They have the power to inspire change within one's self, one's community, or between people. Passion empowers the individual.
And though that sentiment is a tired cliché (though is there any other type of cliché?) it is an important thing to discover for yourself, rather than be told.
The naughties have given me a solid foundation upon which to construct my future.
And the last year of this decade has shown me the way to move forward into the next decade.
And so I set myself not a new year's resolution, but rather a new decade's resolution.
I will find my passion.
And I will empower myself with the ability to effect change.
And I promise that I will also learn to write these yearly recounts in a way that won't sound so ridiculous. =)
To my friends, family, and valued readers I send my love and best wishes as you welcome in the new decade (to those that don’t fit those categories I also offer my best wishes. But you’ll have to work for the love.=) )
Sincerely farewelling 2009,
Christopher.
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