SECOND VOICE: Lluyle's Lens: New year, endless opportunities

OPINION -  Happy New Year, loyal readers!

The year is fresh and everyone gets a clean slate.

I am happy to have reached the year two thousand and twenty-six. (I had to spell that out instead of being numeric about it).

This is a personal year for me, ageing thirty years young in January. It feels like I'm shifting into a different era of my life, and with that comes a decision to be more strategic about the goals I've set for myself.

We all know this time of year well. It's when we plan, when we set goals, when we make New Year's resolutions. We create pre-concepts of how we want to 'see' ourselves during the year, almost like a movie playing in your head.

I have to admit, having the Cape Argus dubbing me a representative of the next generation of artists in the Western Cape did put pressure on me, especially after having received an award last year.

As 2025 came to a close, I reflected on that statement in a Facebook post on 17 December. I wrote: "This sums up my recap of 2025. I came across this article written in Cape Argus about the Western Cape Cultural Awards where I was honoured to receive the Innovative Young Artist Award.

"I am looking at how this article is pedestalling me. It's a huge compliment and it definitely puts pressure on expectations created and emerging from reading that line.

"I accept that sentence in the same way I accepted the award itself: with gratitude, humility and responsibility. If that recognition speaks to anything, it is this: I am proud to be a true representation of what the next generation of artists in the Western Cape look like: innovative, rooted and unafraid to evolve."

I learnt that no amount of outside commentary should affect how I plan my year.

Sometimes we dish up too much food at the buffet, more than one can actually digest, and that's mainly why so much food goes to waste. I am guilty of this.

Like a clown, I tried to juggle too many projects at once and ended up dropping the routines (the juggling balls) I had set out for myself.

This year, I want to be more realistic about what I aim to achieve, so I don't repeat the same mistakes.

I also want to embrace failure more. I want to see failures more as lessons to learn rather than setbacks. It will leave no room for discouragement and instead becomes a source of motivation, much like the beginning of a new year itself.

The start of a new year always reminds all of us that it is still wide open, full of endless possibilities waiting to be claimed.

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author. They do not purport to reflect the opinions or views of Group Editors and its publications.

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