Around New Year’s Eve many editorial cartoons use the convenient trope of Father Time as the personification of the previous year (or “the Old Year“) who typically “hands over” the duties of time to the equally allegorical Baby New Year (or “the New Year“) or who otherwise characterizes the preceding year.
Father Time is an established symbol in numerous cultures, and appears in a variety of art and media. In some cases, he appears specifically as Father Time, while in other cases he may have another name (such as Saturn) but the character demonstrates the attributes which Father Time has acquired over the centuries.
As for Father Time, he has been a prevalent part of many cultures throughout the ages. He is known as PakiΕΎ in some countries and is even referred to as the “personification of time.”
But what does Father Time mean to me? Probably how short our lives are. That with each passing year, our time on this planet shrinks that much more. And it is in this thought when I like to take a reflective look back at the memories that make me smile and warms my heart. Fear of what the future brings is common, however, it is also very exciting at the same time. To think, anything is possible! And to believe that.
So as we prepare to say our farewell to the year of 2012, and welcome in 2013, let’s reflect on who we were, who we are, and who we want to become - and see if we can’t make all three of these one and the same. Be safe everyone. Celebrate that of what can surely be, believe in what is, and know that the future is in your own hands. nurture this new year with care.
My New Year’s Resolution this year is - “To be a better me.”
Feel free to leave your New Year’s Resolution(s) in the comments section.
Sources: Wikipedia - Ezine @rticles
This work is released under CC 3.0 BY-SA - Creative Commons
I have a resolution Mr. Bryant. To apologize to you. I was one of the people who participated in the attack on you. I helped to organize it with Jude and others. We spent four days organizing that attack. We all agreed to do and say whatever we had to in order to get others to go after you too. Even if we had to lie. I also participated in putting together fake evidence against you. Our goal right from the start was to get you banned. I even participated in the attack against your friend, Ira, on her blog. We organized that also. We thought if we could get her against you that you would look really guilty and you would shut down your blog. At first, I really did think you deserved it. Many of us knew you never did stalk Jude or harass her. We thought there was a chance you did but we didn’t know for sure. We didn’t care. We didn’t even care about your list. The fake picture and being so vague about your age? Nope, didn’t really care. We saw you as an easy target to prove our point to that STGRB website. The only thing about it was, we had to lie to do it. I kind of felt bad at first but I don’t know, it really was about the reviews in the beginning and even though we knew you never complained about reviews, we wanted to make an example out of you and when Jude approached us, I guess our loyalty for her superseded any other rational thought. I even started making up nasty bookshelves to put your books in and other authors. I even started giving fake ratings and reviews. I tried to make myself feel better about it by telling my husband. It was like I was trying to convince myself that I was doing the right thing. This is when my husband got curious and wanted to see what kind of a jerk you were so he got online to check it out. When he couldn’t find anything that we all claimed you did he asked me about it and I finally told him the truth that we lied about a lot of it. The only thing you ever did was use that fake pic and perhaps a fake age and write that list. My husband was very disappointed in me. The pic and the age was no big deal to him, and what we did to you over the list was way over the line. To lie about it made it worse. He and I argued for a few weeks over it. I started feeling bad about what I had done and what I was a part of. I started feeling ashamed. The final straw was when they tried to sabotage your interview with that band. That was when I realized that it was no longer about book reviews, but more so about trying to shut you down. I had to get out of it. This is when I deleted my Goodreads account and my blog. STGRB is right, it’s no longer about reviews, it’s now just bullying. I became ashamed of my so-called friends. I couldn’t believe what we had done. Not just to you, but to other unsuspecting authors. All we wanted to do was to force them off Goodreads and ruin their career. We discussed it all the time. We organized and planned everything. Our motto was “if you’re not with us then your against us”. Now that I have been away from it for a few months, I can see how wrong it was for me to take part in it. I really do love reading books. Somehow, our cause got lost and we became the bullies. The only reason they hate you so much now is because you’re the only one who fought back. You’re the only one who didn’t go away. This is why the attacks on you and your books continue. Mr. Bryant, I am so sorry I helped in getting you banned from Goodreads. You didn’t deserve it. We sent Patrick so much fake evidence that he might have felt he didn’t have a choice. I know my apology will not make up for what we did to you, and I know it doesn’t help by doing it anonymously. I may decide to return to Goodreads again someday. I might even decide to start a new blog. Either way, Mr. Bryant, it doesn’t excuse my behavior. You didn’t do anything wrong. All I hope is that you will find it in your heart to forgive me. God bless you Mr. Bryant. All my best to you for the upcoming new year.
ReplyDeleteI don't know what to say. I'm at a lost for words at the moment.
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