I’m a few days late in dispatching best wishes for the new year due to being submerged under a malaise that I’m calling unaffected guilt. Survivor guilt is inappropriate as I have plenty of food—too much really, given that the spare inner tube around my belly is better described as a buoyant but inedible noodle—and my property is unaffected by the recent bushfires that were never closer than 40km from my home. I have, however, been prompted to pack a things-I-really-do-not want-to-lose bag, which now sits at the ready and mouths a silent reminder that the fire season is far from over.

Happiness is beautiful when it’s upon us but it’s transient: our life’s lot is that we have to experience a range of emotions. So rather than wishing for an unattainable full year of happiness, what I wish for everyone I know and for 2020 is a Hopeful New Year. Hope that no more lives are lost in the bushfires that still rage in our eastern states. Hope that the UN’s food aid to Zimbabwe does not run out by the end of February, as is currently predicted. Hope that the fires in Australia can be controlled to prevent further decimation of precious wildlife. Hope that we can become more united in responding to a changing climate: if we can’t all be on board about the need and economics to mitigate emissions, I’m sure we could all at least unite in the need to adapt to drought, more frequent higher temperatures, and longer and more intense fire seasons. Hope that more people can see through our government’s dualistic rhetoric on fear, which fan concerns about increasing costs and loss of export $s whilst simultaneously saying “There, there child, you do not need to be alarmed … about anything really, it’s all in good hands”. Hope that our governments can act more for the long-term well-being of those (in whose service) they ‘govern’: taking their f**king heads out the sand and thinking beyond plucking feathers from doomed species to cosy their own nest. And hope that those of us with more than enough can find ways to live with less so that those with less can live with more. Is this too much to hope for?

Of course, hope is all around us and this blog’s photos offer a small selection: there’s gold in them trees; life is possible in seemingly impossible places; and people with starkly different views can be intimately entwined to create healthy new growth. So, here’s to a hopeful 2020 with dollops of happiness along the way. And if you have any practical tips on small ways to influence government intransigence, then drop me a line. I need some new ways to expunge my unaffected guilt.