SHINY

Jewelry, gold, new cars - these are ideas that may pop into the heads of most people when the word "shiny" is mentioned.

It's certainly understandable. The concept of shiny is firmly attached to newness, freshness, cleanliness. Some street vendors make their living off people who need to have shiny shoes. Companies subsist on people's desire to have shiny furniture, hair, vehicles, cutlery, brass... the list could continue much longer.

But shiny is more than the newness of things. After all, there are many cars which shine brightly but are not worth the Turtle Wax scrubbed relentlessly against their frame; you can make furniture shine by putting plastic wrap on it and shiny hair is not necessarily an indicator of goodness or cleanliness (sometimes it's an indicator of just the opposite).

Because oil shines, too. And so does water. Even blood can shine with the right luminescent attention.

Yet, people shine as well: metaphorically if they are famous, or literally if they have a holiness (or purity) about them. Eyes shine and so does the sun. We have sunshine, but also moonshine. One is the act of light imposing itself on an object. The other is an object which imposes itself on us with potentially disastrous consequences (yet, not without an interesting story).

Shiny has many facets. It demonstrates both outer and inner wealth. It is an indicator of life as a shiny complexion in most entities demonstrates vitality. Yet, dummies and mannequins can also be shiny. So, it is also an indicator of fraudulent life. Of a lie.

It is right, perhaps, that shiny is the month of January, which is the beginning of a new year. A year that has yet to receive the tatters of bad news and horrible happenings. This month, we will explore shiny - sometimes looking for the sparkling golden underlining and sometimes for the shining silver crescent of moon hiding in darkest night.

By the end of the month, shiny will (hopefully) mean more than a new pair of shoes; rather, a concept which we find hiding even in the shadows of our lives.