Like a blank piece of thick stationery, or a crisp linen sheet, a new year and decade begins. We start anew with a clean slate; no mars on the veneer, no tears in the fabric, no dents in the steel.

Yet it won’t do to tiptoe around in the false hope that by not breathing or moving everything will remain pristine. Stains will appear, injuries will happen, the messiness of life will write new chapters.

Still, for the moment, we can revel in today’s freshness, believing that we have the capacity to remake ourselves, as surely as the day dawns.