Janus

January is a curiously charged month, named after a two headed Roman deity, Janus: the god of transition. It is said that one head looked to the past while the other to the future. Now that we are well into February, at the cusp of Valentine's Day (incidentally named after a Roman, martyr no less), I thought it would be safe to look back with one of my heads. Most people have at least two - figuratively - without implications of divine powers. What we do have is memory and the ability to synthesize.

Following in the footsteps of December which is packed with various celebrations, January is a time to reflect and reboot, which is why people like to make resolutions. Until recently, my attitude towards this custom was one of cynicism and mild contempt: why do we need to assign a particular time of the year to introspection and action? I realize now that without this tradition, even less of us would try. We are after all a society of short-term memories. The Romans had it right.

Long-term memories require more work, physiologically speaking, in that they require synthesis of new proteins and the creation of new synaptic pathways. Short-term memory creation relies on existing materials. As we wander further and further away from January, the memory of why we made resolutions slowly fades. The few individuals who make the transition from short to long-term are the ones who will effect change. Society relies on this minority to evolve, which is why these changes take such a long time to occur.

I've hesitated about presenting the following example, but the memory of the unfortunate Saudi blogger being flogged for his posts is becoming a distant memory, even though he continues to receive his punishment as I write.

Children are gunned down at an elementary school in December. In January, strong cries in favor of gun control and better mental health services are heard. Politicians promise action. Two years later, mental health care continues to be underserviced although the Affordable Care Act has placed a stronger mandate on insurance companies. A dozen or so states have passed some form of gun control legislation but all the federal bills put forward have failed to pass. The gun lobby remains strong. Most people forget until the next massacre, and then they forget again. Whether you agree with this presentation of facts or not, memory manifests as a two-edged sword: our survival depends on our ability to forget while at the same time facilitating our slow demise.

Marsala necklace

Well that was cheerful. Sorry. Please forget this post. You will.

You can argue: "If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all." (Alice Roosevelt Longworth)

I will say something nice and frivolous. Pantone's color for 2015 is Marsala. Named after a type of fortified wine, right up my alley! January should have been named Dionysary (totally made up by me) after Dionysus, the ancient Greek god of wine whose celebratory feast happened to fall somewhere between December and March. What a fortunate coincidence. Perhaps next time I will write about the 50 shades of Marsala.