We mark the passage of time through personal milestones and seasonal holidays. Another major marker is bearing down on us — December! All the gift giving, family gatherings, end-of-year parties, toasting mark another round trip around our star. We are on a continuous ride through time and space. We are never at the same place at the same time. Our lives are flux personified. Change is the thing that lives are made of.
Humans hate change. We always earn for the good old days even as we don’t remember them personally and even when we totally misunderstand history. Nostalgia is big. Change seems bad. I get it. I’d rather go the same old restaurant, order the same food, and wear the same comfortable clothing year after year. When my favorite store closes, I take it personally. When my neighborhood changes, I take it as an affront. I want things stable and familiar. I don’t want to spend my mental resources on learning useless-to-me new ways of doing things. And I have a sense that most people are more like me than not, given that we all fall somewhere on the spectrum of hating novelty to needing it. So when the newsheads talk of “change elections”, I really don’t get it. Don’t make changes unless you are very very sure it’s worth it. I believe that in general, asking people to change their mind too fast is too fraught. We are set in our ways… I am not looking forward to all the new stupid changes that will be coming fast and furious my way. I need my personal time to attend to my family and my passions. I need my mental space to write stories, not to dread the next news event.
Thank you for letting me fret. I will try to do better.
In the meantime, here’s a story idea: Parasites! It’s a story about people who use personal resources to escape the discomforts of their timelines to jump to more pleasant and tranquil futures (note: not the past), relying on others to fight for freedoms in the present. Thus parasites!
In case you haven’t secured presents for all your loved ones on the list, consider books, especially indie books. Some of the most interesting ideas out there are being penned by complete unknowns. So give them a chance. In the meantime, here’s a little crazy cyberpunk novel of mine: Lizard Girl & Ghost. The book is still in the running for SPSFC4 contest — great news! So if you haven’t read it yet or know someone who would enjoy it, grab a free copy from December 15th to 19th on Amazon.
Happy reading! And don’t let the universe bug you down.