Australia, blogging

Wisdom and New Year Beginnings -2022

Forestwood

As tempting as it is to recount the highlights of 2021 and the relative freedom we enjoyed in most of Australia; to do that now in the midst of the opening of the Covid floodgates that are occurring, this minute in our country, seems unfeeling and irrelevant.

Australia was lucky – we had our bubble and now we are largely vaccinated, the bubble has burst. It had to happen, but now Australia is about to face what the rest of the world has been experiencing.

Australia’s New Year with Covid-19

Unfortunately, this is another monumental mismanagement fail by a slothful Government. Not enough testing kits, not enough boosters, long testing queues, people turned away from testing clinics, differing state rules.

The question is how long before we return to a normal, again?

Is there a normal to return to?

Blogosphere Brains Trust – Is this what you asked yourself in the past year or so?

As so often holds true, I find comfort in the old wisdoms – the proverbs of older times and their resilience and fortitude. In this case, a Norwegian sage told us:

This can’t go on…

So we continue to look for the silver lining.

Published by Forestwood

A philosophic Aussie writes here at StPA, one who will readily admit to loving Scandinavia. I'm interested in global politics and what drives us to be who we are. Scratch the surface and you'll find a practical Environmentalist with an egalitarian bent, trying to unleash a little creativity via the written word. Scandinavian culture, literature and traditions are close to my heart, even though I'm Australian. Travel and courteous discussions greatly broaden the mind, so I travel if I can and am always up for a vigorous, respectful discussion. I'm an avid reader, a writer and I enjoy photography and crafts, particularly traditional art forms. I hope you'll find 'Something to Ponder About,' in my WordPress Community.

95 thoughts on “Wisdom and New Year Beginnings -2022”

  1. We both seem to be suffering from slothful governments. I know they’re faced with utterly unexpected challenges, but … two years in, could try harder? As you so rightly say, on a personal level, resilience is key. Happy New Year!

    Liked by 6 people

    1. Thank you, Margaret. I need to see the word resilience reinforced. Anything that will support us is good to hear. I do think after two years some leadership would emerge but it seems a widespread and global’nada’ instead.

      Liked by 2 people

      2. What seems to be the greatest downside from all this is the loss of hope that I see in people. The loss of hope of a settled future, one with decent wages, a future where education is given the attention it deserves, where the ‘peripheries’ of lessons in drama, music, art appreciation etc. (as I’ve heard them described) are no more, gone along with the playing fields. And this at a time when parent’s attention has to be on putting food on the table, paying the rent or the mortgage and trying to keep out of debt. Truly, we are living in a sad old world, a world where billionaires playing in space suits make the front pages of newspapers, and homeless men and women are brushed aside.

        Liked by 6 people

      4. You made a pertinent point, Mari. “..a world where billionaires playing in space suits make the front pages of newspapers, and homeless men and women are brushed aside.” It is a world that is focused far too much on entitlement, on ambition and values so in contrast to the average person. Perhaps those people determining the headlines feel they are supplying the public with escapism, but they have undervalued and misinterpreted their role as journalists. It seems to be keeping the public amused, but dumb and ill-informed.
        As for the loss of hope – that indeed is worrying. Hope has always been the last thing to leave me. If I have nothing else, I always have hope. This small flicker of light and positive focus has helped me in my darkest times, so I will try to focus on that blue sky behind the storm clouds. It is the young that will pay the heaviest price and whom will need our support and wisdom the most in coming years as they try to modify what they thought their future might be.

        Liked by 1 person

      6. Which is tough on those who still enter because they want to have a hand in changing things for the better. And they do exist, on both sides of the political divide.

        Liked by 2 people

  2. Indeed, Amanda .. ‘Slothful’ is a particularly apt word for this crowd of dickheads.
    Mind you, I don’t have enthusiastic confidence in the other lot, either.
    Sighhh ..

    Liked by 2 people

    1. 2 years of low infection rates and so little preparation. We are supposed to be comforted by small assurances of 500,000 tests arriving next week for a population of 24 million. They need to be ashamed.

      Liked by 2 people

  6. I think if want to go back to normal, we should really move along. It feels like we’re still on the fence and common sense is still not ruling the day. It’s the same down the border with confusing messaging, long lines, people being turned away after waiting 7 hours and delays in results. We’ve still got 9/11 changes at airports so wouldn’t be surprise if there is something that we have to keep doing into the future.

    Liked by 3 people

    1. Common sense and an integrated national approach are sorely needed. We have had time on our side to do this in our country, yet the lack of leadership has been painful and will play out with ramifications we are currently experiencing and yet to experience. Valid point about 9/11 changes, but having seen how quickly folks slip back to not wearing masks, checking in and sanitizing when restrictions have lifted in Queensland, I think should we be able to return to what life was life, people would do so.
      The 7 hour car waiting queues to be tested is unsustainable and now the Government are ordering more tests. Just where is the forward planning?

      Liked by 1 person

  7. We survive because we are always hopeful Amanda.
    Yes… for every known or unknown problems we face or going to face…..there going to be a silver lining.
    Every negative situation has to have a positive outcome.
    Wishing you all a healthy and peaceful new year!

    Liked by 2 people

    1. Always the voice of hope and balance, PtP. I loved reading your comment and needed to hear it. Every negative WILL have the corresponding positive. I will keep looking for it in coming months. May you and your loved one equally enjoy a healthy and peaceful 2022.

      Liked by 1 person

  8. I wrote 400 words on this and copied and pasted it to a word document for me to look at later. I found myself in a rant. I’m tired of the masks. I can’t breathe and I can’t hear if I don’t see lips moving. I’m tired of people not doing what they should to end this. Is there normal? Not in my family. Maybe in yours. I have never experienced normal. I’m not normal. I’m quite odd. Here I go again. Let me just say, I’m sorry anyone has to deal with this stuff and certainly not for 2 going on 3 years. But what’s next since we can’t do the right thing without being jailed. We are a very aggravating lot of humanity. I’ll stop here and not upset your New Year’s day. Hope you have a good one in spite of this drivel.

    Liked by 3 people

    1. I can hear your anger and frustration, Marlene, and it sounds so unlike you, yet totally justified – not drivel. You are right about the normal. My family is anything but. I think the so-called normals constitutes a very narrow band of folks/behaviour/status in the middle of the two extremes or three extremes around them. Perhaps that thought that we are all swimming along the scale somewhere between normal and abnormal (what a horrid word), is somewhat comforting and may help us to embrace these less than ideal times. I hope you are safely back in US now?

      Like

      1. I’m going to have to explain myself because this comment has been eating at me since I posted it. You are welcome to take it away. I am still in Frankfurt and have spent far too much time watching the melee in the train station. As we go for food, what I see daily is hard on the soul to observe. I’m so far out of my comfort zone here, I can’t even begin to describe what it’s doing to my psyche. Today, in an hour, we get our test and then wait until later to find out if we can fly home. The anxiety is taking it’s tole on me. This may be my next post, apologizing to you.

        Liked by 1 person

      2. NO way Marlene. You are not to apologize. It is totally okay to have a rant. And when you are under pressure like it sounds you are, it may even be theraupeutic.
        I am now imagining the worst of scenes at Frankfurt train station. I have been there albeit briefly to catch a train to Osnabruck. I remember it being super busy.
        Hope the test is clear and you are free to return home. Take care and breathe!

        Liked by 1 person

    1. I like that you have maintained your enthusiasm and positivity, Frank. A great role model. I feel like a whinger complaining when so many others have dealt with this for much longer than we have down under! I have hope that things will improve, or that we can adapt and tap into our resilience!

      Liked by 1 person

  11. It is difficult to understand why governments are not thinking ahead! We have had now just about 2 years of lockdown an curfews. Still wearing masks and sanitizing. We are waiting for our booster shots and we miss our oversea’s family in New Zealand! I can go on and on…. But, we are still healthy and only wish for a wonderful new year!

    Liked by 3 people

    1. I am so glad to hear that you are healthy, Aletta. Masks and sanitizing have become part of everyday life. Are booster shots hard to come by in your area?

      Like

  12. Tough as it is, there is a growing body of thought that suggests this is the beginning of the end, with Omicron showing the natural evolution of a virus becoming more effective at spreading but less likely to kill its host. Let’s hope that’s true. The situation with tests etc is bad here too and a major concern, but we’re learning, I think, that now we have the vaccines we must rely more on them, and less on unsustainable lockdowns, if we’re to recover some semblance of ‘normal’ life.

    Happy New Year Amanda, and hang on in there!

    Liked by 4 people

    1. Thanks, Sarah. I take your advice seriously having lived as you have with a high level of Covid in the community for the previous year or so.
      I am also heartened by the progression of the virus – however, viruses are unpredictable and mutate so quickly in all different ways. I don’t believe there is a natural evolution for the virus to die out. But I really hope that it does! Stats indicate 50% of cases end up with Long Covid. That legacy will also need to be managed long term.

      Like

      1. You have 50% of cases ending up with long Covid?! Wow, that’s going to be tough for your health service to deal with. We’ve had over 13 M cases in the UK so far, that would mean 6.6 M with long Covid! According to statista.com, about 10% here are ending up with long term symptoms, which is bad enough, but 50% would be totally impossible for us to cope with I’m sure – and awful for the millions involved 😦

        Liked by 1 person

      3. Hope so – I know quite a few people who’ve had it and only one got long Covid, and even then was out of the woods after a couple of months, thankfully. 50% does sound very high to me!

        Liked by 1 person

  13. Same story the world over. We are lulled into believing that we are back to normalcy when bam the Covid re enters. It’s a race now …who masters whom … the virus or the human😊

    Liked by 4 people

    1. A very sucky new normal, Graham it is. But let us both hope we can find new paths amidst the aberrant times. Are they talking endemic rather than pandemic in Hawaii too?

      Liked by 1 person

  17. It’s too easy to fall into despair and wonder about the ‘new normal’. Such a trite word. Suffice to say that the situation worldwide is the same & no country, government or medical agency has gotten it ‘right.’ I take consolation with early indications of the virus becoming endemic rather epidemic.

    Liked by 5 people

    1. Yes, Sandy, you are eminently practical. The message I hear more and more is that we all need to get Covid, which is little comfort to me. But I also hear over and over that the virus needs to become endemic. That may help, but it may not. The new normal stinks! Having said that, I agree we must not fall into despair, for that helps no one. There is much to still be grateful for, and I will keep looking for more silver linings.

      Liked by 1 person

      1. “… we all need to get Covid!” Who are these people you hang out with?!!

        I don’t know that I agree with that sentiment either … it sounds too much like a preamble to “… and that’s why we should not wear masks or get vaccinated …”

        Like you, I read about these views, statistics & news stories and I’m thoroughly disheartened. While I don’t want to be a Pollyanna or an Ostrich burying my head in sand … I chose my sanity by moderating how much I hear. Looking for silver linings? It might be more amusing to look for the right shade of lipstick on this particular pig 🙂 LOL

        Liked by 1 person

      2. Lipstick on the pig? Well, I don’t know. There ARE some silver linings. Especially for introverts, and some temporary brake for the planet in certain respects. The penchant for Aussies to indulge in overseas travel instead of a car trip to the beach. Working from home as an option. Online shopping instead of burning fossil fuels in cars driving to shops (delivery trucks withstanding). More cooking at home instead of takeaways. Less cars on the road.
        As to who says we all need to get covid – it is certain politicians and spokesmen…. Shocking, I know.
        Moderating what you hear is wise, Sandy.

        Like

  21. Best to avoid the news and hold the newspapers upside down. It’s all too difficult and complicated. I walk around the lake and get my wisdom from the ducks and bull frog’s mating calls.

    Liked by 4 people

    1. It is very difficult to hear doom and gloom constantly, Gerard. I am with you on listening to the ducks and wildlife, but we need to listen to some shred of news every now and again.

      Like

    1. Common sense? – A positive mind. Yes, indeed, Liesbet! It looks like this is constantly being eroded away. But we need to look to the light and positivity. That is important. As do our politicians!

      Liked by 1 person

      1. I believe I did. I feel much of it is a repercussion of the ineptness of our previous presidential administration (the one whose name shall not be spoken) which only accentuated the desire of many die-hard independents not to adhere or abide by health recommendations by a government agency or even medical professionals. I can count a close friend (an HIV patient at that!) as one of them. He can’t get a COVID vaccine because of his health conditions, and I doubt he would get one if he could. He has said repeatedly he’s tired of hearing about COVID. **Sigh** I am, too, for that matter, but I still relented and got both shots, albeit they made me ill.

        But my biggest concern is that COVID is just a precursor – a warning shot, if you will – to what lies ahead for our planet. I still maintain a much more ferocious viral menace lurks on the pathogenic horizon; one akin to the 14th century “Black Plague” that ravaged Europe and the Middle East or the 1918 Spanish flu, which had a more global impact. It’s not a pleasant thought and certainly not something I wish to see happen. Yet I think it’s inevitable.

        On that thought, Amanda, Happy New Year! LOL! Despite all the gloom, I look forward to every new beginning!

        Like

  29. Thanks for this. I’ve come across this quote “do what you need to do with what’s in front of you and leave the rest to the powers above you”.. we can always hope for a better tomorrow while honoring the gift of today..

    Liked by 2 people

Comments are closed.