Published In The Great North Arrow, January 15, 2024: My New Year's Evolution

- jim Young

“You say you want a revolution. Well you know. We all want to change the world.” - John Lennon & Paul McCartney

Many years ago I made a New Year's resolution to never again make another New Year's resolution. I am proud to say that, unlike most people, I kept that resolution for, not just the whole year, but every year since.

So this is not my New Year’s Resolution, but rather my New Year’s Revolution!

When most people hear the word “revolution” they think of a sudden and violent overthrow of a government. Most, if not all countries around the world have been involved in a revolution at one time or another in their past history.

The most recent one that’s been in the news a lot was the failed revolution that was attempted on January 6, 2021 in the United States of America. Or maybe it didn't fail at all. Maybe they’re still just in the middle of it.

But, a revolution can define more than just an overthrow of a government. It can be applied to fashion, manufacturing, society, business methods and more.

Basically, it’s simply a change. On the other hand, authorities on the subject, might insist a revolution involves a sudden, dramatic and complete change and cannot be used to describe a simple change.

I might argue that ANY change at my age is sudden and dramatic. Or maybe I won’t. But if I didn’t argue the point, THAT, in itself, could be described as a revolution.

So what’s another word I could use? Evolution is a word that is generally regarded as a slow and gradual change.

So if I can’t make a New Year’s Resolution without compromising a previous resolution and the word “revolution” doesn’t really apply, let’s call this my “New Year’s Evolution”. 

Or I could have just told you “I’m making some changes this year that can’t really be considered revolutionary.” But as a writer, I am bound by the adage, “Why use a dozen words, what one can say with a few hundred?”

So here’s the change I’m about to make. When I first pitched the column “Those Were The Days, My Friend” to Cyndi & Jim, it was not my intention that this would become a regular Dog On A Root column, but rather that Great North Arrow Readers would share some of their memories as well. Although that hasn’t materialized as I would have liked, I am still hopeful it might.

Since last April I have not missed a single edition of “Those Were The Days, My Friend”. However, sometimes those story deadlines were tough to meet, so I’m going to take the pressure off myself and step back a little.

I will continue to meet my alternating deadlines for my regular Dog On A Root and Recipe columns but you will no longer see “Those Were The Days, My Friend” on a regular basis.

I still have stories from the past to tell you that are in various stages of being written, but they will now be written at my leisure as opposed to the GNA’s deadline and will only appear periodically. 

Consider it an irregular, regular feature of the GNA.

Conversely, if you would like to see “Those Were The Days, My Friend” more often, I invite my readers to share pictures and stories of their memories.

You don’t have to be a writer, you just have to have a story to tell. But if you want help telling your story, I’ll be more than happy to help you out.

You can mail your submissions to:

The Great North Arrow, 

PO Box #210, 

Magnetawan, 

ON P0A 1P0

Or email them to:

DogOnARoot.GreatNorthArrow@gmail.com

If you’ve enjoyed my stories in “Those Were The Days, My Friend” in the past, consider helping others enjoy your stories going forward.

Happy New Year, to All!

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For the record, while the GNA obviously has deadlines that are necessary to meet publishing schedules, Cyndi and Jim have never required me to submit an article every month. Those commitments have always been self-imposed.