Hello! Here's our first post in 2013. The number itself doesn't have much symmetry, but hopefully it will be a great year. Frankly, for many of us, we might not need symmetry this year. Having been down for a while, we might be yearning for an upward trajectory:)

For others who've been doing all right, maybe the key this year is to develop new awareness. I remember reading that the more information a creature can realize from its environment, the more successful it will be. Humans, of course, with our (at least) five amazing senses, plus our huge brain to process the sensory data we receive, have come to dominate the planet. However, in any human's life right now, can that person refine their awareness to capture information that is available, but hidden from them so far?

If you read the papers or watch national or international news, the theme of reinvention is prominent - especially for the developed world. China has successfully reinvented itself in my lifetime, with India, Brazil, and others well on their way. Those countries lead right now - not only because of their new wealth, but because the developed world is stalled. How can you lead when you're stationary?

Of course, reinvention is in some ways harder when you have a lot of things that work already. In Europe, therefore, change can be hard: some societies have developed fairly rigid frameworks that hinder overall changeability. Everyone knows that new construction can be easier than renovation.

The United States likes to think of itself as the world capital of adaptability. To a great extent, the Americans have legitimate claim to that title. If they can navigate through the mess they're in now, they'll have clinched it for sure.

The numbers say the Americans are in trouble. The question: How reliable are the numbers, anyway? The numbers might tell you specific facts, but can they predict the direction the country is going?

I remember the early 80s. The recurring joke was how broke everyone was. Yet by 1985, the tune had changed. When it changed was hard to detect. Part of the reason was that by 1985, things hadn't just gotten better. They'd absolutely changed. The colours people wore were different, the sayings they used were different, the music was different...even everyday communcation had changed. North American culture's response to the crisis of the early 80s was to become a different culture.

At the beginning of 2013, we wonder how culture will respond to the stress it's under right now. Perhaps the numbers we point to as being the problem, really aren't the problem at all. It might be that we need to develop a new awareness - like developing a new sense. It sounds like a lot to ask, but a child learns to read in a year or two. Words the five year old had no chance of getting are no problem at all for that same child at age eight. Maybe, in one way or another, we've all got go to back to school.

Our drawing today is Sharon Case, who of course plays Sharon on Y&R. Let's wish her character success as she struggles to reinvent herself in Genoa City. Have a good year, Sharon.