New Years. Bah, humbug!
Dec. 31st, 2003 09:54 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
newnumber6Well, it's New Years Eve tonight. So, as usual, I'll probably be hanging out online, maybe watching a movie on TV to carry me over the year without having to watch a countdown clock.
A lot of people have holidays for one reason or another they dislike or don't celebrate. My big one is New Years. I don't celebrate it, and I don't like it. I don't make New Years Resolutions (the last one I made was not to make any more, and I kept it).
I usually say it's because I think it's pointless to celebrate one day as the dawning of a 'new year' as though it's anything special. Nothing changes when the clock ticks over other than a new number to get used to writing for dates. It gives people an excuse to put off making changes they should be making, so it can be their resolution, and a mostly-guilt-free way of backing out of it (since nobody's really expected to keep their New Years Resolution anyway... most people break them). To some extent, this is all true. Though there are deeper reasons.
I'm sure part of it stems from not really having anything worthwhile to do, with no RL friends to speak of, and certainly nobody to kiss as the clock ticks over. I don't drink, so even that's out. So, I'm left with celebrating with family, and, well, I've done my fill of that over Christmas (which I generally like).
No, I think the real reason is that the New Year is a good signal of the beginning of winter. Yes, the solstice is the official beginning of winter. Some people consider all of December winter, or whenever the weather starts turning cold. But for me, the true beginning of winter is on or about New Years. It is the winter of my soul, at any rate. You see, I tend to get depressed a lot more (more than my usual general level of depression) starting about New Years, and usually not clearing up until on or around my Birthday in March (Valentine's Day, the mother of all depressing holidays at least for the terminally single, being in the middle of that certainly doesn't help). Sure, sometimes the depression actually starts a little bit after New Years, or (like this year) a couple days before, but New Years is a good rough demarcation. So hello winter.
Insert traditional unenthusiastic 'yay' here.
As a general warning, if I seem to be less friendly or responsive to greetings than normal, or answer questions in the briefest possible ways, it's usually not because I'm annoyed with you or anything, it's just a general unconscious shift in my online posture. I tend to notice it only in retrospect. Apologies in advance for any confusion.
A lot of people have holidays for one reason or another they dislike or don't celebrate. My big one is New Years. I don't celebrate it, and I don't like it. I don't make New Years Resolutions (the last one I made was not to make any more, and I kept it).
I usually say it's because I think it's pointless to celebrate one day as the dawning of a 'new year' as though it's anything special. Nothing changes when the clock ticks over other than a new number to get used to writing for dates. It gives people an excuse to put off making changes they should be making, so it can be their resolution, and a mostly-guilt-free way of backing out of it (since nobody's really expected to keep their New Years Resolution anyway... most people break them). To some extent, this is all true. Though there are deeper reasons.
I'm sure part of it stems from not really having anything worthwhile to do, with no RL friends to speak of, and certainly nobody to kiss as the clock ticks over. I don't drink, so even that's out. So, I'm left with celebrating with family, and, well, I've done my fill of that over Christmas (which I generally like).
No, I think the real reason is that the New Year is a good signal of the beginning of winter. Yes, the solstice is the official beginning of winter. Some people consider all of December winter, or whenever the weather starts turning cold. But for me, the true beginning of winter is on or about New Years. It is the winter of my soul, at any rate. You see, I tend to get depressed a lot more (more than my usual general level of depression) starting about New Years, and usually not clearing up until on or around my Birthday in March (Valentine's Day, the mother of all depressing holidays at least for the terminally single, being in the middle of that certainly doesn't help). Sure, sometimes the depression actually starts a little bit after New Years, or (like this year) a couple days before, but New Years is a good rough demarcation. So hello winter.
Insert traditional unenthusiastic 'yay' here.
As a general warning, if I seem to be less friendly or responsive to greetings than normal, or answer questions in the briefest possible ways, it's usually not because I'm annoyed with you or anything, it's just a general unconscious shift in my online posture. I tend to notice it only in retrospect. Apologies in advance for any confusion.
