We humans celebrate endings and beginnings - especially beginnings - by gathering in groups, making a lot of noise, wearing funny hats, eating and drinking. It's just what we do - at birthday parties, weddings, graduations, anniversaries, retirements and at new years, too, of course. At funerals we tend not to wear funny hats or make a lot of noise, but otherwise the ritual is the same.
Today is an ending, tomorrow is a beginning and though there are those who would insist that the calendar is arbitrary, that one day is no different than the next, I must disagree. We make it important, we make it significant, we decide it is not arbitrary and so it isn't. Which is why, on December 31st, we gather in groups, put on funny hats, make a lot of noise, eat and drink.
Tonight at midnight the mouth of the new year will clamp down hard on the tail of 2010, thereby completing the wheel of the year. At midnight on new year's eve you can almost feel the teeth of the new year, you can almost hear the sound of the bite .. or you could if everyone wasn't shouting, blowing horns and such.
Once we've made it through that moment of ending/beginning, we settle down, we kiss each other, hug, wish each other a happy new year. Because that moment between what was and what will be is always a little scary. Moving from endings to beginnings of all stripes is a bit like leaping across an abyss. It's such a relief when that moment passes, oh yeah. We kiss, hug, and then we drink and eat some more.
We humans are truly adorable, and so brave, aren't we, to celebrate the marvels and perils of moving from the old year into the new year again and again? I think so.
Happiest 2011 to all. L'chaim. All good things in the new year, yes? I say yes. Cheers!
10 comments:
That moment, it's a big sigh. it is filled with potential. the failures, the problems, the heartaches of the past year are gone and all things are possible in the new year. Like shedding our skin. We are fresh and looking forward.
i laughed when i saw you change the title on this one! so much more you reya! yes! we are very brave - building bridges of any kind is a leap of faith and care has to be kneaded into each and every brick, planed into each and every timber, and poured into each and every girder. i'm going to welcome this new year with peace. i know it's going to get noisy as it unfolds!! steven
Celebrating beginnings- just my cup of tea- the unknown, the possibilities- saying goodbye usually makes me very sad...but saying good riddance is like middle finger up and "I'm getting the hell out of here!" That is how I bid farewell to 2010- glad to see it in the rear view mirror!
Must make 2011 the best year we possibly can- some say it is long overdue. I think I will try Steven's approach.
Cheers to you, Gorgeous One!
What an eventful year - and yet, with the companionship of friends near and far, we are here at the end of it. After these past years of uncertainty, war, and reactionary fervor, I confess to having too little imagination abut hopeful things to come. Again, we'll need each other for that.
Party heartily, then approach the new, unmarked pages of the coming year with hope and creativity. May we also be assisted by blessings from the unchanging Source.
Warm and woolly wishes for 2011, dear Reya! xx
I looked at the clock a bit ago & said "six more hours until midnight! Don't think I'm gonna make it!" Maybe I will, maybe I won't, but the year will change all the same. Comforting & terrifying at the same time.
Ms Bug, we must at some point make a toast together, yes? I say yes.
In the meantime, I'm going to tuck myself under the covers, I plan to be fast asleep at midnight.
Happy new year, y'all!
Beautifully put Reya.
Happy New Year.
let the big wheel roll on. best of the best to you as it thunders past, chirping yes here too...
I'm doing a bit of catch up with your posts, but life is one large "O" and so are one's relationships with others. We are all connected in a huge omniverse rotating into new existences.
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