My world in 2009: hopes and plans

One common denominator that ties me to the rest of humankind right now, is the absolute awareness that I know next to nothing about what this year may bring. Trends may be clear, enconomic indicators may point in a definitive direction, political pundits may give us the best guesses they've got, and yet:

Surprises have almost exploded right in our faces before, and so it remains a wise thing to be cautious when making predictions about the future. Just to be on the safe side, I'll refrain from making them today altogether. Rather, I'll present some of my musings regarding my world. Bear with me if some of them bear striking resemblances to actual predictions. They weren't designed to be. It's just me, as well as you, trying to envisage what may come our way as we, again and again, will be waking up to good or bad weather. Well, here I go.

Home turf

• This year will, if all goes will, see me flying off to some new and some old locations around my world. The new experiences will include various cities and resorts around the USA, as my entire family will travel there to unite with descendants of people who left Norway a century ago to secure a better future. I'm sure it'll prove to be great fun, no matter what we will stumble upon.
• I readily confess to having been bitten by the travel bug, as sampling cultures and cuisines (in particular) really has broadened my horizon in so many ways. Yes, it has fed my stomach and my palate with some astounding, mesmerizing tastes. But actually walking on foreign turf, experiencing one stereotype after the other being shattered, is an almost awe-inspiring thing. This world is so amazingly rich in colours, sounds, joys - and not just griefs. I want to grasp each and every opportunity that intersects the path I'm taking.
  

Norway

• The discovery of oil in my country more than 40 years ago, and subsequent exports of vast fossil fuel reserves, has turned my country into one of the richest countries in the world, materially speaking. Our financial position now seems almost impervious to the effects of the ubiquitous global financial downturn. And yet I almost sadistically hope that this near-palpable rock-solid sense of material security may be undermined somewhat, sensitizing us to the fact that our needs in other areas of life are being ominously ignored. We're fast becoming a nation of split families with too many expectations and not nearly enough human capital, emotional or spiritual, to meet those expectations.
• We keep on looking to purveyors of various pills to perpetuate our happiness, being almost panic-stricken by the fact that what we're expected to achieve in life may actually elude us. We're no longer content just to be good homemakers. Now the only acceptable life-time accomplishments seem to be an impeccably happy family life, a career trajectory that soars towards the skies, and uninhibited access to any pleasure that tickles your fancy.

Can we really take that much strain in the long run? I doubt it. Yes, I too want to be as happy as I can be, but some times the good things of life dims our vision, erecting walls that bar us from the luxury of contemplating the best.

Right now it seems we've got all there is, and that is, basically, all we've got. Next time I'll tell you what I think we need more than, well, just money.