How to not feel ‘meh’ in the new year

Birds flying high. You know how I feel. Sun in the sky. You know how I feel.

Breeze driftin’ by. You know how I feel!

It’s a new dawn, It’s a new day, It’s a new year, For me!

And I’m feeling meh…

I’m back at work and while I would rather be on a beach somewhere, I should probably be grateful to be employed.

I also get everyone’s excitement about the new year. Really, I do.

We have, after all, made it through another 365 days without wiping out our entire species through nuclear war, a catastrophic man-made climate disaster, or some other human thing which is stopping intelligent extraterrestrial life from reaching out to us.

I just can’t, however, get myself to share in any of the joy. Maybe it’s because I’ve been off the sauce for a couple of months, and my brain no longer knows how to process joy.

Or maybe it’s because I’m battling to understand how the occasion of the planet circling the sun one more time, as it had done for millennia, will help us fix any problems we face.

And if the president’s New Year’s address is anything to go by, I really don’t see 2020 bringing any fresh ideas from our political fat cats on fixing unemployment, the scourge of gender-based violence, the land question, or any of the myriad of little niggles which makes life as a bluelightless (yes, that is a word now) South African such a struggle.

Yes, he acknowledged these issues, which is commendable, considering that some of our other politicians often act as if this country is a utopia, with some even going as far as suggesting that any criticism or warning to foreigners about the above-mentioned issues amounts to a lack of pride or patriotism.

But, as is so often the case, he simply didn’t go beyond the usual meaningless platitudes.

So, as a good anarchist, here are my suggestions for making 2020 less crap for yourself and those around you.

Start with some basic organising work, like recruiting your neighbours for independent community policing forums to keep each other safe.

Help your own and other neighbourhoods to feed themselves independently by planting community gardens and establishing mutual aid networks.

Start community mutual banks and stokvels in order to break dependence on big business and start supporting your local entrepeneurs and craftsmen.

It’s those little things that help.

Maybe it’s also time to stop the South African obsession with meaningless marches and “peaceful protests”, which do little more than create the illusion of action and is simply ignored by those in power.

Let’s, instead, start ramping up the action through disrupting their highfalutin rallies and events, dragging them to court to demand implementation of constitutionally guaranteed rights, and making this the year where we remind government that they exist to serve and not to exert power over the general populace.

I know, it may sound like little more than an ideological fever dream, but it is possible by educating, agitating and directing the energy of those who have their hearts in the right place.

Start with simple acts of kindness, be good to each other and hopefully, if enough of us can do this, we can start celebrating new achievements, instead of the exhausting nostalgia for the magic of 1994.

For more news your way, download The Citizen’s app for iOS and Android.