A new hobby has entered the lives of many over the last few years. It involves checking the latest trends on Twitter.  It has become a thoroughly depressing pastime over the course of this year.  A tweet by @alex_greenough yesterday summed this up perfectly: “Love how David Attenborough and Bruce Forsyth are trending simply because they’re old and alive” It was retweeted 1,089 times at last count. It is true that people look at names trending and assume that they have moved on to another world beyond even Brexit. People were urging that the Lord of Attenborough and the Natural World be wrapped in bubble wrap or cryogenically frozen to prevent him falling victim to the overactive grim reaper.

This year has been rightly lambasted and cursed from start to finish, from the unexpected death of Bowie in January to a seemingly endless succession of celebrity deaths over Christmas. In between there have been dozens of others, some naturally of old age and some untimely and in incredibly cruel circumstances, like the band Viola Beach.

It seems to be not only those in the public eye who have passed this year. Countless work colleagues have lost loved ones.  Of four colleagues who work in one office, three lost their mothers this year, and one friend lost her husband very suddenly and unexpectedly at an unacceptably young age. It seems hard to see how she could ever get over what has happened.

Every time we turn on the news we are confronted with the latest migrant ship to sink in the Mediterranean, the fresh attack on a school or hospital in Syria (http://www.cre8ivation.com/?p=5369 ) the most recent radicalised terrorist to drive into a crowd of innocent bystanders. The world of politics seems to be increasingly fuelled by nationalism to the point of racism, where whole nations are democratically deciding their futures on this basis. I didn’t meet a single person in my circles or at work who agreed (publicly at least) with Brexit or the election of Trump. These two landmark events of 2016 have given hope to hideous groups across Europe and the world who lean as far right as it is possible to lean.  

So, is there even the tiniest glimmer of hope amid a seemingly imploding world? I have thought of three reasons to hope in 2016. Only yesterday Barack Obama talked of reconciliation with Japan as he stood alongside PM Shinzo Abe at the USS Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbour. His conciliatory tone after the bitter US election campaign was refreshing. Even though he has made mistakes you feel that he is a simultaneously down-to-earth yet larger-than-life president who can be trusted overall, whereas…enough said!  

Another moment of triumph was the culmination of over twenty-five years of campaigning to clear the names of Liverpool fans at Hillsborough. Truth and justice finally reigned. If ever we needed a symbol of never giving up a righteous fight, then this was surely it. Justice for the 96.

I talked about the band Viola Beach earlier. I count myself privileged to have met them at a gig in Belfast the week before they were killed in a tragic car accident in Sweden back in February. They were at the stage of the career that the Beatles were at when they went to Hamburg and played at the Cavern. Locally supported, yet with a growing groundswell of recognition nationally and with the songs and live performance to boot. See review/tribute  http://www.cre8ivation.com/?p=5447  

Their debut album, posthumously released, reached number 1 and showcases the incredible potential they had. One of the most poignant moments of 2016 was attending the memorial concert at Parr Hall Warrington, and seeing all the families and friends on stage with bands who were contemporaries (like Blossoms, the Vryll Society and Hidden Charms) and influences such as the Kooks and the Coral. Huge inflatable beach balls flying round the gig and the tour video shown on the large screen showed that making music and the comradeship of being in a band is fun.  It was a giant coming together to celebrate and to show solidarity with those who knew and loved them best. http://www.cre8ivation.com/?p=5501

2016 has taught me more than ever that we are all living on borrowed time and nobody knows for sure whether it is a short or a long time. We should live as if it could be our last day, but equally expect that we may well live long, fulfilling lives. When tragedy inevitably strikes, we should come together, whether to comfort and be alongside the grieving, or to fight for justice, peace and reconciliation. Many people on social media have personified 2016, attributing a stream of vitriolic terms of abuse. And that is right if it helps them come to terms with their losses and the losses of the world at large. Who knows what we will be calling 2017 but let’s hope for life beyond tragedy, light in the darkest places and that the grim reaper takes a vacation.  

Written by Si ©Cre8ivation