New Year’s Day is THE best holiday of the year (hold tight, I’ll explain). This year I am absolutely gaga over the fact that so many other people believe this to be true, also! 2020 made short work of that. I didn’t even have to campaign. There isn’t a soul around that isn’t counting down the seconds to 2021. And it makes sense – dumpster fires are interesting for a bit but who wants to perpetually watch one for months on end?
Why not make New Year’s Day your new favorite holiday! You see, New Year’s Day is a zero-obligation holiday. No gifts. No big family gatherings. No travel. No musts. It literally is a holiday whose only reason for existence is that the number designating the year changed. That’s it.
You don’t have to answer the door and hand out candy. You don’t have to have a bunch of people in your house. You don’t have to buy a bunch of gifts, make a bunch of food, spend a bunch of money, light a bunch of fireworks, or string lights and decorations around the entire front yard. You don’t have to DO anything but you CAN IF YOU WANT TO. That is the beauty of this day (except for the “bunch of people in your house” – please not this year).
New Year’s Day, as the zero-obligation holiday, is the day when you get to do whatever you want. You want to sleep until noon, eat nachos, and watch football? There you go! You want to get up, start your new exercise routine, meditate, and set your goals? Do it! Do you want to make animal pancakes with the kids, go for an afternoon walk, be in bed by 8 p.m.? It’s all yours! You want to take down every piece of holiday decor, clean every inch of your house, and put your feet up with a glass of wine? Be my guest. Do you want to work on a puzzle? Bake a cake? Meal prep? Boom. All the other holidays boss you around with their fancy to-do lists. New Year’s Day is a holiday just waiting for YOU to tell it what to do.
But, here’s the bigger reason why I love New Year’s Day. I am a hopeful person. Behind every crap day is the hope of a better day tomorrow. Behind every crap year is the hope of a better year. New Year’s Day has always been this day-long pause in which I take a deep breath, square up the dreams in my head, and rev the engine for what’s to come. Some years I am up early and making resolutions. Other years I am sleeping the day away and eating whatever sounds good (like last year…because my neighbors had an NYE party and they throw the best parties 🎉😁). Who knows what tomorrow will bring?? I will just wake up to that great pause of a holiday and see where it takes me.
New Year’s Eve puts a period on the past. Bye-bye, 2020. Sayonara. It’s been real – maybe a little too real. And now we are leaving it in the dust.
New Year’s Day is the pause. Do as much or as little as you want. It is your recess. Your intermission. It is your space between what went down last year and what fantastic adventures await you in the new year. It’s recess and you get to spend your recess however you want. No obligations.
And then, on January 2nd, you start 2021 like this:
“2021: _________________________________________
After the colon, you start listing all the ways you’re going to have a glorious 2021. List as many or as few as you want. The colon is made to handle an endless list or a brief one. I’m sure there are grammar police who would argue, but do we care? No. The list is all about hope for the future and we cannot bog it down with rules.
See? It’s the best holiday. Go enjoy your day doing whatever it is you want to do. And then? Go explode into 2021 with ferocity, a loving spirit, and a giant grin on your face. The period won’t reappear until December 31st, 2021.