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Reflecting on lessons learned in 2013

As we begin a new year full of hope, plans, excitement and trepidation, we also close out 365 (and one quarter) days of headlines, heartaches, disasters and disappointments.

As we begin a new year full of hope, plans, excitement and trepidation, we also close out 365 (and one quarter) days of headlines, heartaches, disasters and disappointments. 

And once again, I find myself asking the age-old question often posed to me by my own father, “So what the heck did we learn from 2013?”  (I added the 2013 part.) 

Despite Mom’s edict not to put that in your mouth, some things should just stay there. Miley Cyrus’ tongue, for instance. 
Some people should never be allowed near a camera. Rob Ford’s lawyer would likely agree.

American politicians proved that their image – or was it their ego? – was more important than the health of their country.
And I personally realized that I should stop listening every time Kanye West appears. 

My hope for 2014 is that his self-aggrandizing, over-blown, mistaken God-complex will get the heavy medication and therapy it so desperately needs. 

The year once again proved that while many of us bemoan what technology has done to both the English language and people’s spelling skills, Webster’s Dictionary is embracing the new vernacular that is being created at a dazzling speed. 

Thanks to TV we’ve now added …

Twerking – This dance move may have been around for some time, but it was Miley Cyrus’ butt at the Video Music Awards that did the most damage. 

And as The View’s Sherry Shepard said: “Twerking is a grown woman’s sport.”

Binge-watching became de rigueur thanks to PVRs, Netflix and entire seasons available for download or on DVD.  And people, it’s not healthy to watch several hours of any one thing.  That’s a brainwashing tactic from 1942.

The selfie proved there is no limit to our vanity.  But it’s really just a re-invention of the photo booths we used as kids. 

Even what is now referred to as “photo-bombing” is the same old joke from high school back when doing “bunny ears” on our friends was the epitome of funny. 

The truth is we’ve run out of good new stuff and most of us are just recycling the bad. 

Or the not-completely-toxic. 

This year, we lost many legends and newer stars with equally heavy hearts. 

From Peter Sellers’ death to the Paul Walker tragedy, Hollywood got a little dimmer this year. 

Of course, that could be the resurgence of the Kardashian media machine. 

On TV, we watched a marathon get bombed, the U.S. government self-implode, tornadoes destroy towns and a Canadian mayor become an international joke. 

Fortunately, kids brought us hope in 2013 like no one else. 

Sixteen-year-old Malala Yousafzai proved that a little gunshot to the head would not stop Pakistani girls from getting the education they wanted. 

And it may have started out as a simple Make-A-Wish plan, but the entire city of San Francisco came out to help a five-year-old leukemia patient turn into the all-powerful crime fighter Batkid.  

A hero who made us all feel powerful.

So maybe 2013 wasn’t all bad. But in 2014, we can do better.

 





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