The strike of midnight ending one year and beginning another. One of my favorite moments of the entire year. Why does this mean so much? Another day, another minute. But this one in particular holds such sentiment, such magic. The closing of a year, maybe one to remember or one we hope to forget. Either way, we are beginning a new one. This moment gets filled with nostalgia, remembrance, anticipation, and hope.
My New Year's celebrations have always differed wildly from year to year. I've been in a transient state for most of my adult life, moving 12 times within the past ten years, but the yearly celebrations didn't just vary in terms of location. Some included parties, some were more intimate, many included performing in shows, and thank goodness the last few years have included a kiss with the person I share my forever with. Despite being in a more settled state, both emotionally and geographically, this time of year brings self-reflection and memories of times gone by– it's a marker of the time passing and a reminder of how dramatically we change as we grow older.
We spent New Year's Eve this year house-sitting for my parents up north after a wonderfully exhausting visit with my in-laws from Louisiana. We spent the five days leading up to December 31st running around the Twin Cities showing our winter-amateur side of the family, ranging from age 9 to 69, everything we could. We spent a day at Mall of America, went sledding, went to the movies, took them snow tubing and learned (well, tried to learn) how to navigate picky pre-teen appetites. Sitting at Birchwood Cafe for New Year's Eve brunch after we dropped them all off at the airport, I turned to my wife and said, "I feel really married." We laughed and reflected on the week, and how buzzing through the holidays filled with so much family is a sort of cursed blessing that brings us even closer.
This was our first New Year's living in Minnesota, and I think we spent it exactly how we needed to. We brunched, we napped, we snuggled. We drank the champagne that we had at our wedding and made new vision boards for 2017. We had moments of real quietness and respite for the first time in months. We shared hopes and goals for the new year, and booked flights for our long overdue honeymoon.
We chose to only book the flights– to figure out the rest as time progresses and leave some of the details for when we arrive. I realized that this is a reflection of my hope for this new year. To plan the necessities, and leave space for spontaneity and change. To choose a destination and show up wholeheartedly for the journey. To take one day at a time and give life a little more room to surprise me. In this moment looking to the horizon of a new year, I choose adventure. I choose a childlike approach in between all the daily adulting we do. Maybe it's the snow-tubing talking, but I think 2017 is the year of challenging ourselves to play, to experience newness and exploration in a new way.
So, whether you partied all night or spent the evening cozy by yourself or with a loved one, I hope ringing in 2017 brought you moments of remembrance, reflection, and appreciation. Remembering times of laughter or hard times overcome, friends and relationships loved or lost, appreciating the awesome year of 2016– or that it has finally ended. However you reflect, this time of year can be a great reminder of the fleetingness of time. Hold your memories close, but your present moment closer. Cheers to you and yours as we venture into another year of the unknown. And cheers to 2017, let's see what adventures you've got waiting for us.
