If one was to look back through the events of 2016, you could be mistaken for thinking that not a lot of good came from the year. World political stupidity, war and conflict, natural disasters, airline disasters, mass killings in the states, religiously motivated murders and atrocities, retrograding equality efforts, and celebrity deaths. It’s been a rather, shall we say, interesting year, but not entirely without its lighter moments, but it definitely has a dark feel to it.
For me, it has been a challenging year. I have taken on some challenging roles including the last play I did, and directing for a festival at the beginning of the year. Juggling fatherly duties, gently preparing for a divorce, maintaining a full-time job which has lost much of its appeal, weekly trivia night hosting, editing various video productions (Short film, wedding video, show reels), and keeping my toes in creative work (films, live-role-play training, etc). Looking at that, it seems a busy and productive year.
I’ve also been learning, and mostly about myself. Learning the difference between those opinions encouraged by society, and those that I personally have. My inner voice has become louder through the years, and now I hear it more than others. I have questioned concepts that I have blindly accepted for years, and researched where I felt knowledge was lacking. This is the year I have made a few personal decisions.
One of the biggest realisations is where I stand on religion, which is to say I don’t stand with religion. Anywhere. (If you want to read more about that, I have another dedicated blog page going.) I have also changed my opinions on relationships, marriage, vulgarism, and myself in general. I write more about this on that blog I mentioned above.
If one was a believer in numerology, than 2016 equates to 9, which is a number of endings. The end of a cycle, laying the foundation for a new one, and curiously it does quite feel like that, in both good and bad ways. Personally I feel like I am about to step into my true self and venture into roads previously only dreamed of. Socially, I see that the landscape is about to become more challenging. Why, you may ask…
It seems to me, at least, that we are entering the age of closed-mindedness. The age where people have decided to claim the right to be ignorant, to be obstinate, to be self-righteous. Where people demand to have their voice heard in the name of freedom of speech, yet deny others that same right to counter their claims. Where what one believes is more important than what the evidence suggests. Where science is a fountain of lies and mythology the keeper of truth.
Just as I am coming to understand myself, and to question the world around me, eager to learn more than I did before, the world (at large) seems as eager to do just the opposite, to ignore the dangers that may be ahead and to relive the days of aggression, paranoia, pre-judgement, intellectual ignorance, and witch hunts. Where opinions are made before facts are considered. Where emotion weighs heavier than reason.
I’m out of sync with the world, and in a good way I think. It might put me in conflict with it… I’ll take that risk.
Reflection of a Ham 
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