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January 4, 2001

“It’s been a long December and there’s reason to believe
Maybe this year will be better than the last”
                                                                     -Counting Crows

Unless you've been hibernating or something, you know that last Monday was New Year's. For anyone out there who cares, it was also the real beginning of the twenty-first century. Chances are, you celebrated the occasion in some way or another, either by going to a big party, drinking a lot, getting together with friends, or all of the above.

With the exception of the obvious - it's a couple of days off of work - I'm often at a loss to explain just why we celebrate New Year's so much. I mean, another year went by. Big deal. Most likely it's just an excuse to go to a party and get drunk. Not that there's anything wrong with that, mind you. But I was thinking about the true meaning of the occasion and I realized that there's more to this holiday than champagne and cardboard hats.

Commemorating the new year is no different from marking a birthday or an anniversary; it's simply an indication of another time period in our lives being complete. It's human nature, this obsession with time that we have. On one hand, we spend a lot of our life killing time and wishing the day was over. On the other hand, we never seem to have quite enough time, and we constantly are forgetting to make the most of each moment. Perhaps it comes from everyone's knowledge life is limited. Another year, another year closer to death. So then why are we celebrating?

Well, maybe we're celebrating the fact that we made it through last year. I'll be the first to wish good riddance to the year 2000. It was not the best year of my life. Now, that doesn't mean that 2001 will necessarily be better. For all I know, maybe it'll be worse. But there's always that optimism, that hope that maybe - maybe - this'll be the year when everything goes right. Somehow it seems easier to believe that things will work out next year. After all, that's why we make new year's resolutions, right? It must be easier to take off those extra ten pounds next year

So little seems to change in a year. It's as though you blink and suddenly a whole other year has gone by. On the other hand, so much changes in a year, maybe New Year's is a chance to reflect on the changes. Personally, I completed another year of university, changed jobs twice, lost touch with some friends and made some new ones. I also lost my grandmother. For too many people I know, 2000 was a year of loss. We tend to focus on either the very tragic or the very joyous events, and forget about the mundane, everyday routine-ness of our lives that consumes our attention during the year.

So is that it? Is New Year's for looking back and looking ahead? Or is it just a lame excuse to party? Technically, January first isn't even the Jewish New Year, so we were supposed to have done all that reflecting stuff back in September. Everyone I know was too busy cooking back then, though. At any rate, no matter how you look at it - a legal holiday, an excuse to drink, a chance to reflect, or the first day of the rest of your life - I hope everyone had a Happy New Year.