Sports. Everywhere you go, there is a sports game playing, a group discussing a sporting event, or a loud round of cheers can be heard. Football, soccer, or basketball are taking up a lot of mental and emotional bandwidth. And, yes the names of some of those sports are being debated even in funny commercial advertisements. I’m not here to talk about any of that, really. I have cheered on a few teams. And, admittedly I am excited that I will be away on travel in a foreign country when the World Cup Final is being played. I can’t wait to catch the game with really rowdy group of people who live for the World Cup.

We also have about 550 different television shows we can catch (if we have the right subscriptions). That’s a lot of plots to try to follow. And, Oscar contender movies are being released. I have no idea what The Whale is about but seeing Brendan Fraser cry makes me a little weepy.

The weather in New York has been oddly warm. Events are packed. People are shopping in stores. Inflation is still an issue. Hence, finding sales, really good shopping sales, are a sporting event themselves.

On top of all that, I plan to take two trips before the end of the year. I’m getting a headstart on my word of the year for 2023 – which is traveler.

Why am I mentioning all this? 2023 is almost just a month away. I’m not too sure I know of many people who are ready for the year. I already have my aspirational word selected. I’m already thinking of two trips to take in January and February. However, on a deeper level, I truly don’t know what to expect or want of 2023. I think we are hoping for normalcy. But normal left the building years ago.

Maybe we should put down the remote for a second. Put down the phone for a minute. Sit for a bit to prepare for what is to come or not.