The Years in Review

So many can be seen lying in the cradle of their deathbed; and they're not at ripe old ages as they should be. Yes, some of them have lived a long life with minimal regrets in the through-lines of their complicated careers. But the young and old are seen as a collective in a major event happening for the year; one that the world only sees superficially. What they don't see is what we're about to see where all their past years are relived in fast motion and digested as a whole into their languishing minds. And all of these expiring people exude a groggy anticipation in something unusual happening.

Look at the overwhelmingly popular entertainer over there.

That face is one of burrowed pain, if also a fragment of peace at knowing he'll be at rest soon. He sees his ambitious childhood that's a mysterious mix of ingrained ambition and pressure by his parents to succeed in the world of entertainment. We see exactly why he delved into childhood as an adult and was forced to act like an adult in childhood. The meanings behind being in a fishbowl are more than apparent, especially when his old dreams come to the fore of doing dance moves in a real fish bowl while yes men in his inner circle pour a surreal-looking fish feeder into the confined domain.

Then one of the most tragic events of the human spirit hits when the isolation becomes so stifling, it destroys all sense of hope. A sense of escape happens; a desire for infinite sleep.

All of the above runs through this entertainer's mind as one collective bolt of lightning. The end result: An immediate euphoria from vividly recalling forgotten childhood details. There's also a letting go that says rest & time will make it easier to eventually tie up loose ends at an assured, indefinite, future date.
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Look at the old, internationally-respected journalist over there.

He has the grandfatherly face of a satisfied life, yet also one that looks uncomfortable at the thought of adhering to the reality of having to die in one's 90's rather than when much older. All of his experiences in presenting news to the world in a calm and collected way envelop him to the point of reminder in how it all was perfected down to the minutest detail. Then all the impersonations of that perfected style by every impersonator in the world won't bring a smile but a wince.

Yes, all of the good-natured ribbing of his unique personality was, deep down, a personal annoyance never shown outwardly. Had it been, it would have stopped every impersonator in his or her tracks with embarrassment and led them into a career of...well, cartoon voiceover artistry.

All of those trifles get tucked aside when seeing the entire scope of his influence in the media and realizing its weight. It was a power that never sank in completely, though with him realizing it must not come to full realization with many others who share his same influence until the very end. Still, the tributes late in life are still seen along with the openly critical detractors.

The end result: A full digestion of helping to shape history and an immediate feeling of satisfaction at making his career medium better. At the same time, there's a last-minute stir to sit up like a dying Beethoven and duel the fates: The valiant desire to take part in shaping the future of news in a radically different era. He feels the sorrow that a new process has been built that will never make this man's career possible again through another person.
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Look at the middle-aged, iconic actress over there. She's been dying for a while and already had a chance to see parts of her life consume her mind prior to this moment. Now her deathbed experience brings a face of apprehension at dying due to unresolved family issues. There's also a relief that her iconic status will live on through generations not usually attuned to the past. That takes a temporary back seat to seeing the core of her life and career and what it really means in retrospect.

She never told anybody that she felt she could have done more to make her acting career more substantive earlier rather than it being an emblem of a certain era. The less productive parts of her career are vividly re-experienced with a new feeling of beauty and acting talent colliding with one another. This was never comprehended originally due to beauty in her time equaling talent.

Ultimately, she would have gone for more significant parts earlier if she could do it over.

The substantive acting years emerge and the impact of her later disease that the whole world took emotional catharsis over. They all converge into one dramatic arc that adds a more emotional sheen to her earlier years.

End result: Substance and beauty finally converge in her mind as an endpoint satisfaction. It also makes the distance of the earlier years sunnier and gives her the desire to re-visit there repeatedly. A solace of that place repeats several times before the final breath.
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Look at the non-distinguishable, non-famous person over there.

This woman or man has forgotten their charmed past; all muddled by a recent and current present existence that's a direct opposite of what came before. A horrific car accident on the last day of the year puts the person into a place they've never been in before: Witnessing every detail of their life replay in relative real-time.

All of the person's childhood years come roaring in to the conscious mind as a far away comfort zone revisited. They override the uncomfortable present as a tide washing out a morose sandcastle. It was something this person attempted to muster for years via hypnosis, though the beautiful memories were locked up akin to a financial account that can't be touched until near the time of death.

The childhood memories truly stand alone in depicting the perfect childhood that also happened to have a glowing path toward no wrong. Then adulthood hits and the problems every grown person deals with were assimilated. Ultimately, this person became one of a billion if not more and places him or her within the pantheon of the human race alongside the dying notables. Their untapped reservoirs of the mind consume them all concurrently and bring them together in an inner world communion.

Our person unknown happens to wake up in a hospital bed. He or she managed to survive their car accident, though just now ended the cerebral stream of their life. End result: A reserve of comforting feelings from decades past that can be tapped into at any given time indefinitely. A full context of life arises that officially makes no life simple or meaningless.

It's the new years in review; the truer path toward death, life and renewal. May all those years never waver from any mind and manifest earlier than expected.