Celebrating or Giving Meaning to New Years

Many of us are part of the cultural imprinting that includes sentiments such as "out with the old, in with the new." Symbolism includes a grim reaper with the past year's numerals and a baby with a top hat that displays the next year's numerals. It also includes "party favors," such as horns, goofy hats, confetti, noisemakers. Recently, fireworks displays have been added. According to most who practice this tradition, one is supposed to get together in mass displays of raucous "celebrating," that culminates with a kiss that lasts from one year to the next.

I remember the San Francisco tradition of throwing last year's desk calendars out of office buildings, until few windows in the new buildings would open. 

I was quite surprised when I moved to Wisconsin where they don't celebrate New Years to any major degree. Television broadcasts the apple drop in NYC's Times Square when it happens, live . . .at 11 pm Central Time. Everyone goes to bed after that. I think the dairy farmers' "early to bed and early to rise" deeply affected New Year's celebrations.

By the time I was in my mid-20s, I was already finding New Year's Eve rather trite and boring. The excessive drinking didn't endear many others to me all that much. The shallowness of drinking = celebrating, shouting and screaming, and poorly thought out "resolutions," allowed me to start losing my imprinting on this holiday by my 30s. I think New Year's Eve was my first holiday that became moribund due to "Is that all there is?"

George and I started a ritual during the last week of December, with a goal of re-evaluating our previous year's budget and whether we'd met our goals, and then planning a new one for the upcoming year. These budgets not only included our average or known monthly costs and expenses, but any larger purchases that might be bought, such as a washing machine, or a vacation.

Because by then we were dealing with severe issues of alcohol = violence issues with him, celebrating New Years became a mostly quiet evening at home.

I did my recent blog entry on Validating Michael, "A Recap of 2012 for Me," somewhat in remembrance to those recap memories. Also, part of the experience of the 5th IM is to look back, re-evaluate, and recreate one's self. It's a largely thinking process, rather than a doing process. It has also given back some meaning to an ending and a new beginning cycle.

If one looks into the various calendars in use by other cultures around the world, one discovers a range of New Year traditions and methods of measuring annual cycles. I found the website, "Calendars through the Ages," to have some great information on how others "celebrate" an annual cycle. Wikipedia has a great basic article on when and how others celebrate the slide from one year to the next, New Year's Day.

It's worth reconsidering what our own imprinting is about New Years and whether it's all that meaningful to us. 

Views: 78

Tags: meaning, new, years

Public Wall

You need to be a member of The Michael Teachings to add comments!

Join The Michael Teachings

Comment by Jana on January 4, 2013 at 7:42pm

Geraldine, I pretty much share your sentiments about it. For part of my family that lives in UK (mostly my ex-inlaws) Christmas and New Year Eve became one of a few times when we get together and play a game or two and have a laugh. Of course we could do this at any other time of year, but we don't. So I enjoy it for that. Other than that, I don't give a toss about either frankly, not the way it is celebrated in our culture at least (overeating, alcohol and consumerism).

The concept of New Year Resolutions is silly to my mind too. I decide I want a change in my life at any time of the year, and then I either implement it or not.

And oh yes, I had to smile when I have read this in Bru's reply:

people rushing to contact those across the city and the globe with a heightened sense of urgency to get to wish them "Happy New Year!" before anyone else could block up the phone lines!...

In fact, I have not done this at all this year for the first time in my life. No doubt some people will think I am pissed off with them. And for a second year now I do not do Christmas decorations or send cards. It all lost meaning for me, particularly since I live alone. I think in the case of the cards the meaning was not really there in the first place. What I would still enjoy is baking traditional Czech Christmas cookies with members of my family, but not at all for the cookies (particularly since I have 99% stopped eating sugar), but again for the company and shared time together. Of course we could do this over another activity at another time of year, and with some of them we do, and with others we don't. So if Christmas and New Years Eve means to other members of my family an excuse to spend quality time together, then I welcome it for what it is.

What Yinrose has described sounds like a wonderful way to celebrate anything.

Comment by Diane HB on January 1, 2013 at 7:51pm
I didn't get the same imprinting for New Year's. Lunar New Year was a big deal growing up in Taiwan (on par with Thanksgiving and Christmas combined), and after moving here my family still celebrated it more than the Roman new year. Gambling was more our thing than drinking. The adults would play mah-jong on Lunar New Year's Eve, and the kids would play blackjack with small change.

I didn't pick up the new year's resolution tradition even though I did more years of schooling here than in Taiwan. I remember thinking that if I wanted to make changes, I'd start then and there. Why wait for new year's? But in the last year or two I've actually started using the new year as a marker for reviewing old goals and making new ones, which are then planned out and scheduled into my days.
Comment by BruceHB on January 1, 2013 at 3:02pm

Thanks both Geraldine and Yinrose for these thoughts....I have been spending a somewhat pensive and "redemptive" New Year's Eve in Mumbai where the city has been celebrating quite quietly,partly with small vigils for the student who died after the Gang Rape and partly from a reactive sense of "safety-consciousness" for its own potential casualties....

For my part I have been celebrating a memory-filled evening with my relatives who live here.... We have experienced 4 close family bereavements within the last 2 months....We sat with memories of my own childhood here - marked by images such as you have mentioned, Geraldine, when I was invariably asked to play the role of the New Year Child (as the Old Year costumed as the Reaper was going out) at New Year's Dances and revels in the Fifties etc.....

I, too, have memories of New Year's Eves marked by father's alcoholic tremors and dramas....which tended to cast a sense of danger over the general electricity of the event....and, also, other moments of high excitement with people rushing to contact those across the city and the globe with a heightened sense of urgency to get to wish them "Happy New Year!" before anyone else could block up the phone lines!....

This year we sat - a small family group - commemorating the goodnesses of the Past, voicing compassion in the memories of the darknesses and being thankful for each other's presences and those family members in the past who are now longer with us here in the earth and who by their presences led us to have experiences which have been doors to our own personal growth...

While we didn't specifically look forward as such to 2013, we shared feelings that we are here together now after a trying year and a real knowledge & understanding that whatever we are faced with in the coming year or however we choose to meet those situations we have help-meets in each other's presences....This was quite an unusual happening in my family and, like you, Yinrose, but for perhaps different reasons this has been probably the most meaningful New Year's Eve for me thus far....

The emotional electricity still effects me year on year

Comment by Ingun on January 1, 2013 at 12:58pm

Thanks Geraldine for sharing your awareness on this.I also had enough of the drinking and shallowness of New Year celebrations around my 30s. Then when I had my kids slowly my joy, awe and wondering came back.

When I was 20 I experienced to me an extraordinary new years eve; staying on a an island in Liberia (west africa), and the little island was just a big beach. There was no electricity and at 12 o'clock I went into the water/sea which was so warm and I just laid there on my back looking at all the stars / sparks in the sky :-) That was such a contrast for me who had been raised in the most northern parts of artic climate with 7-8 months winter a year.

Yesterday two friends and I celebrated with making food together, and specifically expressing our gratitude from what has been lived and learned through 2012. We also shared our intentions for 2013 and shared some of our challenges and vulnerabilities. Then we meditated together before we watched all the beautiful sparks spreading in the sky at 12pm and danced to some good music. No alcohol. Well I don't drink anyway.

This was probably the most meaningful new years eve ever. I want to have many more like this.

QUICK MENU


TROY'S
UPDATES
RECENT
POSTS
MAIN
FORUM



SUPPORT
SERVICES
SPECIALS
CHAT

*LIBRARY*
EVENTS

 

PLEASE DONATE?





PLEASE CONSIDER A DONATION to help keep services alive and low-fee, and to keep your resident host and channel alive and well! THANK YOU SO MUCH! This is my only source of income, so I have to do a bit of humble groveling and ask for your support. Thank you!

© 2013   Created by TROY.

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service