Snowblind

It's snowing outside as it has done for the past three hours or so. There's something to be said for snow and its capacity to make everything beautiful, no matter how deep the ugliness runs. Snow can cover every stain, every cracked surface and everything else in a blanket of white serenity. Snow can stop traffic. Snow can completely silence an entire city and smother it in her cold embrace.

Whenever it's snowing, I get the feeling that, no matter how dark or how gloomy the world has become, snow can always make it look better, even if it's just superficial. After all, in today's society, it's all about the surface anyway, isn't it?

I know some people hate snow exactly because of its traffic-stopping, city-smothering attributes, but I don't care. There's always this sort of magic in the air when the snow starts falling. At night, snow-covered grounds make the skies clearer and the stars shine brighter. And when it's cloudy, the snow's reflection bounces off the clouds back to us, illuminating the world we've made for ourselves.

I guess I definitely caught the Christmas spirit bug, haven't I? And whenever it's Christmas, New Year's Eve's never too far off. A chance for redemption, for starting over, for wishful thinking or for repeating the same mistakes. Wouldn't it be great if everyone's resolutions would be upheld this year? If 2011 became the year of keeping promises and lasting commitments? Or is that something still best kept for the far-off future?

In any case, I'll be making some pre-New Year's Eve resolutions of my own, lest I forget them by the time sparkling glasses pass before my eyes and cloud my better judgment.

• In 2011, I'll do everything I can to get into Sheffield by passing every exam in January.
• In 2011, I'll fully commit to my diet and start running again to get back to where I was three years ago.
• In 2011, I'll take my first steps towards a career in journalism by submitting my first real article.

I wonder, what are your resolutions? And will you keep them?