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Twenty twenty. I’m not sure about other countries (I know its different in Japan), but in America, perfect vision is 20/20. There’s also a famous news program of the same name that was a vehicle for the famous interviewer, Barbara Walters. The show used to be about investigative reporting and in-depth features – a role taken over by the new breed of comedian newspeople.

Wouldn’t it be nice if we could have perfect vision for the year 2020? According to the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics website, though, only 35 percent of people have 20/20 vision without corrective measures. Figuratively speaking, how many people have metaphorically good vision? I would guess it’s a lot less than 30 percent, especially among writers.

I think we’ll stumble and fall in the dark and in our own ignorance quite a bit in 2020. But I also think we can find things to help us see better – we can light a candle, or find something that sharpens our focus.

And I think having less than perfect vision can help us sharpen our other senses – let us be more in the moment, checking the direction of the wind in our faces, and the smell of the surroundings.

It feels very naïve to be optimistic about 2020, but I can’t help it at New Year’s time. There’s such a fresh slate when the calendar turns. Why is that? It’s not a naturally occurring distinction. It’s completely arbitrary, and decided by us. Some of us will feel the same refreshing feeling of newness on January 25th, or during the moment of the Spring Equinox, or September 18th. Maybe the new year is a set of rose colored glasses that blurs reality – or maybe it’s a good tool to sharpen our vision for the future. I guess we’ll know by the next new year how it all turns out.

In the meantime, I wish all of you a very happy 2020.