I don’t have anything original to say about the close of this difficult year. Plenty have already pointed out the symbolism related to the solstice and what we’re hoping for in the new year. And while it’s not necessarily the case that if one doesn’t have anything original to say, one oughtn’t say anything, saying the familiar thing is one of the ways clichés are created, and clichés should be avoided if only so that as much language may remain fresh as possible. To passionately employ a cliché is one thing, but to reiterate the already said when one doesn’t feel particularly strongly about it feels like the linguistic equivalent of littering.

 I employ the term content on occasion when referring to my writing, but it’s never less than three-quarters ironically. If the repetition of a cliché without conviction is the linguistic equivalent of littering, most of what I see described as content is a superfund site. There is too much in this world—too much plastic, too much garbage, too much carbon dioxide, too much radiation, also too many clothes, too many toys, too many items built solely to be put on shelves, and also too much noise, too much beeping and buzzing and vibrating for our attention. I also think there’s too much content. Too many thinkpieces. Too many books, articles, seminars, blog posts (yes, I know), poems, songs, paintings, buildings, sculptures. There’s too much of all of it, not just “too much to get to,” which is so far past true it seems silly to point it out, but I also think too much for our own good.

 And I don’t have much of a solution to offer, if you even concede this is a problem. I would just say that if you’re putting something out in the world, and you don’t feel particularly strongly about it, maybe don’t put it out in the world. I already see some problems with this related to certain people who think everything they touch is gold and others who need a lot of convincing that they deserve to take up any public space at all. But in the vast middle between those extremes, perhaps we can do some good, create just a little bit less content that doesn’t have any passion behind it, any conviction. Make it a little easier for the person on the other end, the searcher hoping to come across something the creator really cared about.