Moving Forward in 2024 after years of disruptions
The past year is full of escalating events, wars, conflicts, mass shootings, weather disasters, humanitarian crisis, economic struggles, left/right, my team/your team, and cascading challenges across the globe.
The one thing most of us agree on is that the world really needs unity. Women took center stage in showcasing the unified spirit at Beyonce and Taylor Swift concerts, supporting Britney Spears, and Barbie fandom taking the lead in coming together in shared experiences.
Hi Barbie, Hi Barbie, Hi Barbie, Hi Taylor, Hi Beyonce, Hi Britney, let's go girls!
2023 was a year of women getting out there and showcasing the spirit of unity and fun.
The World Has Changed
Artificial Intelligence takes a leap forward and becomes part of our day to day lives. Tech industries rush to create the next wave of billionaires who innovate the future. And the fear of AI, lack of control over the content, and uncertainty has the world worried.
Twitter gets rebranded to X showing us that even billionaires egos can make bad choices.
A massive demographic shift occurred in 2023 marking the first full year with 8 billion people on the planet. Young people have become the largest demographic for the first time in history. India overtook China as the most populous country and Africa is growing fast with a youth boom that may put them at the top by 2050.
2023 was the hottest year on record and a year filled with natural disasters.
2023 was a year compounding challenges where millions of people suffered from wars, natural disasters, mass shootings, poverty, hunger, homelessness and local conflict. Political divide continues to grow.
The covid years escalated a growing trend in the wealth gap and in the past 5 years, the gap has widened significantly. The greed generation is upon us as it seems enough is never enough for the wealthy and getting into the billionaires club is their goal. Meanwhile the middle class is struggling to stay afloat and slipping further into debt.
Most people reach their happiness peak when they have enough income and security to have a home or two, nice cars, health insurance, can travel a couple times a year, and afford to go shopping without going into debt. Time Magazine has touched on the subject of happiness and wealth many times over the years and studies basically have shown that once a person reaches around $75,000+ per year (the number is probably about double that now due to inflation), the happiness level is not necessarily increased.
I would estimate this mark now is between $200k-1 million. After that, there have been numerous studies that show more wealth doesn't bring more happiness and actually adds more stress because you have more to manage.
I would love to hear stories of unity, billionaires stepping up and sharing their wealth and giving back. Send your stories and share with me so we can promote the good in the world, the unity that we need more of, and celebrate the human spirit.
The UN Foundation Summarized the year with turmoil and hope:
Our world — particularly developing countries — faces a perfect storm: Growing inequalities. Climate chaos. Conflicts and hunger,” Secretary-General Guterres told world leaders at this year’s G20 Summit.
Our experts agree. Humanity reached a crossroads in 2023. “It does feel like a monumental moment,” Julie said, noting how these daunting problems could inspire a better path forward. “History has shown that in times of great pressure and turmoil and despair, new things can grow.” As the world looks toward 2024, solidarity won’t be just another buzzword; it will be our only option for survival. In the words of Guterres just before the close of the year: “We need all hands on deck, collaborating and cooperating in a way that has not been done before.” It is now or never.
A few good video recaps of 2023:
Moving Forward in 2024
As we move into 2024, my goal with HolidaySmart is to connect more people through the happy fun moments in life. We all need reasons to come together and celebrate. We all need hope and love in our lives. We have added more positivity & inspiration days which we do here at HolidaySmart every year to celebrate people, places and things that remind us of the good and the beautiful human
So take some time on a fun daily holiday, maybe some foodie holidays, and have fun with friends and family. Holidays are about uniting and togetherness. Let's make 2024 a year to celebrate by sharing more positivity and happy moments.
I'd like to take a moment to give a shout out to our editorial team, contributors, sponsors and readers. I know that things have been hard for a lot of people and I hope that 2024 will be a year of growth and unity. Let's strive to be more connected and find and create more joy in life.
2024 is a time to connect with others and build a better future.
Celebrate
