As we approach the end of 2015, thoughts about years past and particularly 2015 come to mind. My own experience of life after 66 years on the planet reveals that there are always many varieties of experience – some that bring untold happiness and some tinged with sadness and grief. This is true of any given day or year. My own personal review of this year finds me thinking about the massive job it was to downsize from the place we called home for 30 years. This job took up most of the year. There were challenges along the way but with wonderful teamwork and support, the job got done. It’s nice that this particular season of life is over and another has begun. “Every moment and every event of every man’s life on earth plants something in his soul.” (Thomas Merton) What was planted in my soul this year is the fact of impermanence – things change and we move with the changes. I thought at one time that I would live and die in that house but my feelings about ownership and possessions changed – all for the good.
Thinking back to world events in 2015, there were very dark moments we found ourselves faced with as a human species. Early in January 2015, people all over the world were stunned and horrified by the attack of the Paris offices of the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo. That attack left 12 people dead and eleven people wounded. There’s no need to give all the details of what took place here since you have all seen the media coverage. It’s enough to say that 2015 started out with a violent streak. I’m just wondering what changes have to take place within us in order for us to live peacefully with one another “Peace does not rest in the charters and covenants alone. It lies in the hearts and minds of all people. So let us not rest all our hopes on parchment and on paper, let us strive to build peace, a desire for peace, a willingness to work for peace in the hearts and minds of all of our people. I believe that we can. I believe the problems of human destiny are not beyond the reach of human beings.” ~ John F. Kennedy. Hopeful words from someone who is no longer with us and an incentive to keep trying. All is not lost for the human race.
The end of 2015 brings us the refugee crisis as thousands of Syrians flee their country because of Civil War. Since the war broke out in March 2011, it has been estimated that 9 million Syrians have sought refuge in other countries. Our own country, Canada, will welcome 25,000 refugees for resettlement here. Many started arriving before Christmas and our own Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, and other officials were on hand to welcome the first planeload. It’s nice that Canada is able to respond to this crisis in a positive way. Many ordinary Canadians are donating money, clothing, toys, furniture, and other items refugees may be in need of. Most importantly though, many people are personally pledging to welcome and help refugees as the human beings that they are. A lasting solution, the possibility to begin a new life, is the only dignified solution for the refugee himself. — Poul Hartling, UN High Commissioner for Refugees, 1978-1985
It would be easy to go month by month and country by country and list all the negative events that took place around the world in 2015. But a new year comes with the promise of hope, change for the better, and the expectation that things really could be different. We wish each other a “Happy New Year.” We make our own personal resolutions to do things differently in order to have a better outcome – whether that is in the area of weight loss, quitting smoking, making new friends, or any other thing that concerns us. In our heart of hearts, we have good intentions. 
To balance out this post, it’s time to recall some of the positive happenings here in Canada and the world. We celebrate having a new Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, who brings a fresh, new outlook, to life and politics. We can be hopeful that Canada will play an important and vital role in changes for the better here at home and in the wider world.
The Pope visited the United States and Cuba this year. As the Head of the Catholic Church and a world leader in his own right, these were positive visits which resonated with leaders in these countries as well as the local people. Pope Francis is a peace-maker.
Prince William and Kate welcomed their new baby daughter, Princess Charlotte. This is a great grand-daughter for the Queen. A new baby is always good news and this baby is a royal one and the world was happy for the new parents.
A list of other significant happenings that I found on future timeline.net is below for further viewing so that you see there have been many 2015 events that I wasn’t even aware of.
2015 —
Lithuania joins the Eurozone
The Eurasian Union is formed
The first solar aircraft to circumnavigate the globe
Expo 2015 is held in Milan, Italy
The Large Hadron Collider reaches its maximum operating power
The world’s first fully sustainable, zero-carbon, zero-waste city
The first self-regulating artificial heart
A new generation of hi-tech supercarriers
The United States and South Korea dissolve the Combined Forces Command
The first large-scale solar updraft towers are operational
Queen Elizabeth II is the longest reigning monarch in British history
Personal biometric scanners for online banking
DDR4 memory reaches the home PC market
Windows 10 is released by Microsoft
The Archival Disc format is launched
The Carteret Islands are abandoned
The Dawn probe arrives at Ceres
The New Horizons probe arrives at Pluto
Electric car ownership reaches 1 million worldwide
Trucks with emergency braking systems are mandatory in Europe
The deadline for the Millennium Development Goals
In our own personal lives, we may have had many wonderful experiences in 2015. There may have been those too that we would rather not remember. As things go in life though, that is the nature of life – ups and downs, highs and lows, and everything in-between. The images I used in this post are ones I used in other posts. I’ve been happy to get back to blogging and could have made this post all about my experiences with blogging but decided to choose a broader topic. Who isn’t interested in 2015 as it slips by? All the best for a wonderful, happy, peaceful, healthy and safe 2016!
“The whole point to New Years is not just to have a new year. But that we should be new, better and different people. That is why we exercise to RE-NEW our bodies. That is why we write GOALS to get a Renewed sense of our potential. That is why we make RE-SOLUTIONS because we resolve that there are solutions inside of us that we have not tapped into. So don’t waste each New Years season. Maximize it! Start fresh using a new perspective for it will enable you to tap into a new season with greater capacity.”
― Stella Payton