Every Ending a Beginning

There is a term for a musical phrase whose ending serves also as the beginning of the next: an elision. Few musical phenomena have such fitting symbolic use at this time of year, as one year melts into the next. Honestly, January 1 is an arbitrary date, and constitutes no more official a beginning than does Chinese New Year or Rosh Hashanah. But as humans we seem to need beginnings and endings as a way of measuring our progress and reminding ourselves of both the tragedy and the miracle of our own mortality.

So every year, as December 31 passes into January 1, I celebrate the many elisions that have come and gone in the passing year. I want to take a brief moment to thank the few people who actually read this silly thing. It's an outlet, and is important to me even solely as such. But for those of you who do read it, I hope you enjoy reading it even half as much as I enjoy writing in it.

Here's to the upcoming year, the beginning of some wonderful experiences, happiness and health. Cheers!