The New Year is Nothing New (Welcome 2019)

As usual, the decision to sit down and write this New Year’s blog came 11 minutes ago at 3:00 pm, on New Year’s Eve Day, three hours before I’m supposed to be at my first New Year’s Eve party in years – which I will have to leave early to be at work four hours into the New Year.

Nothing new there, right?

But I say that with a smile.

Also as usual, thoughts and words played in my head before this decision was made. I suppose it’s because the night that I really consider to be the night of the New Year would be my birthday, my personal New Year – the only one that really matters if I truly believe that everything starts with me – and that wars with the idea of general New Year’s celebrations at the end of December. Somewhat. Not the celebration part – I love to celebrate. The inner ‘battle’, if you will, has to do with the level of expectation that is brought upon people at New Year’s Eve: the midnight kiss, the resolutions, etc. If I fight anything, it is the pervasive and sometimes destructive idea of New Year’s Expectations.

I resurrected my two blogs from the past 2 “new” years a few moments after I started typing this. Sometimes I do that to see if and how much my thoughts have changed; in reality, today I read them just to make sure I wasn’t exactly repeating myself (if I was, then I could just repost an old one)!

I’m happy to see that my thoughts haven’t changed (it kind of makes me feel like I made a good decision and stuck with it).  I guess that makes this blog (and possibly all future New Year’s blogs) an addendum.

I say the New Year is nothing new, and it isn’t – but it is. It is no more new than any ‘next’ moment we have, but since it is part of what’s next, it is new because it hasn’t happened yet. We hold this one as sacred merely because it’s the mile marker in our journey of constructed time measurement, and it will only be new until the next one (or, for some people, by March).

“What sets New Year’s Eve apart from every other night is the fact that we have been conditioned to believe that this one night is more important, more of a chance of new beginnings, than any other night – and all because of a change in a number.

The day you got your new job, got married, quit smoking, and/or bought a house have more importance than a simple night of having a glass of champagne at midnight – which you can do any night.”  It’s Just Another New Year’s Eve (Welcome 2017) 


Newness, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder. The person who truly believes that every moment is new will be happier than the person who got the New Year’s Eve kiss at midnight, made a list of resolutions, and who said “Same shit, different day” three days in.

We can celebrate reaching the next mile marker, whether our thoughts are happy about letting the past go or looking forward, or just take the excuse to reconnect with people you don’t get to see much in your daily life – but is no more the beginning of anything than your next thought is.

“The beginning and the end are the same. Every end is a beginning, and every beginning an end. Proof that life is all about the journey. We all do know this; the concept pops ups in movies and song all the time – but do we really understand it? More to the point: do we really believe it?

Our lives are our creation. Everything we think, say and do creates a ripple outward, and those thoughts, words and deeds are expressed out of our own choice. Events that we say ‘happened’ to us are natural occurrences of thought, both our own personally and the collective. In truth, what ‘happens’ to us is actually our reactions and responses to natural events and circumstances – we determine what ‘happens’ to us by our definitions of what anything means to us. Then, we let those reactions define who we are.” Once Again Around the Sun (Happy New Year 2018)

Remember that every moment is new. Anything you consider significant during a time period has nothing to do with the time itself and everything to do with you and what you think of it. When you allow each moment to be new you will be able to enjoy and experience it without expectation, because you will not color it with any of your preconceived conditions and limiting thoughts.

Go out and celebrate tonight. Enjoy the countdown that signifies the moment you have to start writing a different number on your paperwork. Celebrate what was – and all of it, just because you can. Party because we are meant to celebrate all things, not just one. Spend time with friends, or stay in and treat it as any other night – like you can every single night. Remember, it’s nothing new – you will have this same choice 12 months from now, like you had this same choice 12 months ago, 12 months before that, and 12 months before that …

Believe in the power of the new moment, and each ‘new’ year will be fuller.


Happy New Moment!

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