Tom Rupp commentary: The fearless future of 2024

OK, 2024 is well under way. Perhaps you saw the note that the last day of last year was listed as 123123 (12-31-23). These are fun things to notice from time to time. Our brains attempt to observe or create patterns so we can make order out of the random occurrences of our lives. Thus, we attribute significance to what we have called the first day of the new year. It's sort of like your birthday. It is just one of the 365 (366 in 2024) days of the year, but for you, it is special. We call it January 1st and we deem it special. But like all of the other days, it has the same 24 hours, the same 1,440 minutes, as every other day. It's more of a mental inside job, sort of like what Shakespeare has Hamlet say: "There is nothing either good or bad but thinking makes it so." Significance is in the eye of the beholder. In a sense, you could say there is nothing either special or normal about January 1, but thinking makes it so. Maybe you could assert that every day is special, a new chance at life. Some days are nationally significant - April 15, July 4, Sept. 11, and so on. Other days are more personally significant. Our family has six or seven members with birthdays in November, a month that suddenly has personal significance. Then there are the birthdays of children and grandchildren. If you read last week's word, you will remember Dec. 31 is a special day for me. And so here we are. This day is special in that it is the new day in which the Telegraph is available, now on Fridays. It is special for actors Robert Duvall and Bradley Cooper (their birthdays). Construction began on the Golden Gate Bridge in 1933 … on January 5. Bruce Springsteen released his first album in 1973 … on January 5. For me, January 5 this year is just Friday, unless something of personal significance occurs. New Year? How about a new day? The Bible says God's mercies are "new every morning" (Lamentations 3:23). So once again, ready or not, here comes a different set of numbers, 2024, with different experiences – Olympics, elections, and who knows what else. God says "fear not," so here we go, walking into a largely unknown but fearless future. Tom Rupp is a Folsom resident and weekly Telegraph columnist for more than 20 years. You can reach him at truppfolsom@yahoo.com.