Happy New Year

As the winter holiday season is winding down I've been reflecting on seasons past and reminded of something I wrote here once... in that if you are living in the right place (for you) and involved with people you are most comfortable with then you have set the stage well for the coming scenes of your life... also it's important to recognize your mistakes but don't focus on them entirely as you may loose sight of some much needed perspective regarding what you have done right... and finally don't try to revive old dreams but concentrate on making new ones come true. I usually don't make New Year's resolutions but I'm changing that this year and I'll explain shortly...

This time of year I always think about and miss Dick Clark... he has been a part of many of my  New Year's eve countdowns for most of my life...

In my travels and from some of the people I've met over the years I've learned about some of the traditions about the new year.... 

Probably one of the most widely known traditions of the season include the making of New Year's resolutions.... this tradition dates back to the early Babylonians. Popular modern resolutions might include the promise to lose weight or quit smoking. The early Babylonian's most popular resolution was to return borrowed farm equipment.

I have a few things I do New Years Eve and New Years Day...

On 31, December I wear new red underwear to help in bringing a year filled with love and sex...

I also eat green grapes to ensure no money problems in the coming year... We put silver coins in the window sill for the same reason before midnight.

And we eat black eyed peas cooked with a silver coin for luck and prosperity.

If you want a year a year of travel and adventure run around the block at midnight carrying a suitcase. I stopped doing this as I have enough travel and adventure in my life right now.

Traditions from around the world include...

London

The Clock Tower at the Palace of Westminster chimes thirteen times when the clock's hands strike twelve on New Year`s Eve. It`s only then that the new year officially begins. 

One tradition I've learned in London is that the first visitor (or first footer) of each year should be male and should be the one to bring the gifts of the new year... I'll explain in more detail shortly. Unwanted or empty-handed guests are not allowed to enter first. 

JAPAN

Traditionally, on Japanese new year Oshogatsu, people clean and decorate their homes and prepare Kadomatsu and/or Shimenawa to welcome lucky gods before New Year's Eve. It’s preparation day to welcome Toshigami the new year's god.

Probably like many my celebrations include a Champagne toast...

But it wasn't always called a toast. The term didn't come about until the late 17th century. Almost every culture — the Hebrews, Egyptians, Persians, Saxons, Huns — had a pledging of honor with a glass in hand. Drinking to celebrate the holidays and special events date back to ancient times...Ulysses drank to the health of Achilles in The Odyssey.... And in Rome, drinking to someone's health was so important that the Senate demanded that all diners drink to their emperor, Augustus, before every meal.

Other New Years Day superstitions I've heard are...

•  A first-footer is the first person through the door after the stroke of midnight. This person should be a good-looking, dark-haired man. He has to knock and be let in – not use a key to enter. He would ideally be carrying a piece of coal (the house will always be warm), bread (the household will always have food), money (obvious), and greenery (for long life). The first-footer brings extra luck if he happens to have a high in-step, or comes on a horse.
• Do something you are good or successful at on New Year’s Day – especially if it’s work related. This will tell how the rest of the New Year will go.
• Any baby born on New Year’s Day has good luck the rest of his/her life. The baby also brings good luck to the family.
• Nothing goes out – not even the garbage. The flip version of this rule is that nothing goes out until something new comes in.
•  No money should be spent (that would be going out).
• No sweeping or dusting the first day of the year. The good luck could be swept out. If you have to sweep, you should sweep towards the center of the house and use a dust pan. (Some cultures "sweep out" the old year.)

It's been a very interesting year that started with me reaching out to someone I knew  a long time ago... but to no avail and in thinking it over I realized that we had completely missed each others lives and probably had little to nothing in common except what we shared briefly  in the past... as a side note to this I decided to reach out because I had contacted someone a couple years ago to call in a professional favor (I hardly ever do this) and I did not hear back (I usually return phone messages and e-mails within 24 hours unless I'm traveling) and I started to get a little (actually a lot miffed)... and I decided to let it go instead of calling again... I learned this year that my colleague or professional associate had just learned around the time I made contact that she was facing months to live and had to accelerate making end of life plans... so the lesson learned is that you never really know what other people are going through and why calls or letters may not answered promptly or at all. All of this reminded me of someone who I did not return a  couple of calls to (I'm not going to relate the whole story because it's long and tedious and personal)... but she reached out to me and I'm glad we got to sit down and share a meal and have a conversation and find some common ground... because although we have had no meaningful history or  real past together there is perhaps a place for both of us in each others future... but the sea will tell.

So at the top of my list of New Year's resolutions is to be kind and consider carefully the conditions of others lives and experiences... and in tandem with this... I am going to carefully consider every word I say so as not to demean or diminish anyone even slightly. If I make a mistake I'm going to count to ten and say and/or do the right thing. I may not change the world but I'm going to improve my quality of life and the people I share the world with.

Have a safe and Happy New Year! See you next week.