Love in 2020

On this New Year’s Eve, the auspicious precipice of 2020, a few thoughts;

We are all the same in our makeup, with variations being a very small fraction of a percent - we share the same genetics, a set of specifications that allow this organic machine, the human body, to function, to some degree similarly to others. And to a large extent, we are also similar to all of the living organisms we coexist with.

We differ in cosmetic ways and in our thoughts, perceptions, opinions – and yet we congregate around ideas like love, friendship, peace, religion, government, war, poverty – some successes and failures – and even war and disease – so within our collective differences, we vary fairly slightly – so that at a distance, one could barely perceive them.

I can go on diatribes about those that would manipulate some portion of mankind to put themselves above others (and do and have) but they are in fact, less pervasive than the norms of love and peace. Evil stands out because of its agonizing reflection against Love and Peace.

I am reminded constantly – every day - Love is the answer. By my wife and family. By my friends and by this wide world. That doesn’t mean we don’t falter or take offence, or get mad. It doesn’t mean that there aren't atrocities or that we don’t play some unintended part in them.

It means that when we pull back, we understand when we’re wrong and that love is both action and being. We further it. It is how we can live, laugh and prosper together.

I wish you and your families love, peace, laughter and prosperity in 2020 and beyond. Pass it on.

Tobias Venar