Last day of the year, and if I'm honest it doesn't feel any different from any other day in this month. Not sure what other people are feeling, or if it's something I should be feeling, but whatever it is I've never felt it.
I understand the concept of New Year's Eve, and I understand the idea of having an out-of-control party to see the old year off and welcome the new one in but I've just never felt as if the previous year was bad and the new one is going to be better, which in most cases seems to be the reasoning for a massive party.
Now, that doesn't mean that tonight I'm not going to make a concerted effort to have a wonderful time with my friends, I just don't have any hope that next year will be any better than this year past, or the previous year, or the one before that. Come to think of it, I don't actually know what constitutes a good year.
I guess that the idea of a New Year gives people hope, particularly if they haven't done everything they wanted to this year, or if something eventful has happened which made the year bad. The New Year provides the misconception that we can all start over again and do better, that we can forget our past mistakes and learn from them without bearing their consequences, but that never happens does it?
No one ever walks away from any of their mistakes without feeling the repercussions thereof. And just because it's a New Year, doesn't mean you get a free pass. And if we're all honest I don't think that anyone really believes that we can all just walk away from a year of mistakes and look forward with the 'light' in our eyes.
So maybe New Year's Eve isn't about feeling anything at all. Maybe it's not about feeling hopeful or even having a good time. Maybe it's a time to lie to ourselves and each other, and for a brief moment we can forget about our mistakes and lie in hope.
So allow me to be the first person to lie to you: Happy New Year, this one will be better.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I beg to differ with this post. Last year (2008) was so much better than the previous (2007) and on New Year's eve I still did the traditional "have fun, make resolutions and vow for a better year" situ like everybody does every year. And it isn't exactly a lie to say this year is going to be better - I think of it as a (failed, incorrect) prediction (if the year doesn't turn out better). So it does still present hope to most of those that experience it.
ReplyDeleteI don't think that there's any specific thing that constitutes a "good" year but last year was better than the previous for me because I achieved amazingly excellent results academically, had a religious epiphany and found faith, made awesome new friends and found out who I am and where I fit into at high school (and I found out that I fit into a good place that agrees with me). I also bonded with my family really well and they'd never been my favourite people before but now they are.
I didn't have any of that in 2007 except for excellent academic performance. And what good is intelligence when you aren't happy in other facets of life.