What is an annual retrospective \u201cbest-of\u201d list other than an attempt to remember great things about the preceding year? It\u2019s an effort to document the creative endeavors that mattered to us, a commitment to remembering that, in the midst of everything, there are things worth remembering.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I asked recently in the RBP Discord, \u201cAsking for a writing project: is there a direct antonym for \u2018threat\u2019?\u201d (I\u2019m grateful for the responses that I received, and I do intend to use them for a piece in the future. Think of the sketch you\u2019re currently reading as a trailer for that longer contemplation: coming soon!) We spend so much time and energy on describing danger, on anticipating how things could go wrong. It\u2019s understandable considering how obsessed with mortality we are. After all, the same magazines and websites that release top 10 lists also publish \u201cIn Memoriam\u201d lists in late December. We commit to remembering who and what we\u2019ve lost.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But \u201cbest-of\u201d lists are attempts to celebrate what we have gained over the year. There are so many things that didn\u2019t exist before January 1st and now they do. The list is a declaration that we are better off for having these things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019m grateful for such lists in 2023, because it would be easy for me to look back at the year and say, \u201cThrow this thing in the fucking dumpster.\u201d I don\u2019t really want to say that. I couldn\u2019t, not as a fan of It\u2019s a Wonderful Life<\/em> and its message of gratitude and interconnection. Even with all the bullshit of this existence, I do believe it\u2019s worth being here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And yet. I am drawn back to the In Memoriams, the sense of loss. There were so many bad moments, events and creations that seem to bring only misery. Are we able to extract them from our memories and leave behind only the joyous and ordinary ones? If we could, would it be healthy to do so? Perhaps it makes sense to avoid a \u201cbest-of 2023\u201d list and just create a \u201cof 2023\u201d list. Good, bad, middling. So, here\u2019s a list:<\/p>\n\n\n\n There is a longer list to write, but I am running out of time. The year will end in less than eight hours, and I will then be focused on creating memories for future inclusion in a written reflection on 2024. So this piece remains unfinished, a sketch that may give birth to some new piece in the days to come. In the meantime, I will take a cup of kindness yet for auld lang syne:<\/p>\n\n\n\n We\u2019re here because We\u2019re here because Every year, one of my favorite writers posts his ~20 minute review of \u201cAuld Lang Syne.\u201d It\u2019s where I first heard of the lyrics found at the end of this piece. If you do nothing else before the clock strikes twelve, take some time for John Green\u2019s piece from The Anthropocene Reviewed<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
we\u2019re here because
we\u2019re here because
we\u2019re here.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n
we\u2019re here because
we\u2019re here because
we\u2019re here.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n