New Year’s Eve is probably the most introspective day of the year. The one day where you can reflect back on the past year. What parts did you like? What would you have done differently? Would you have done anything differently? What days were your favorites? Look back through the old photos. Laugh at the memories. Cry because of what went wrong. Feel nostalgic. Miss the people who you no longer speak to as much. Appreciate the people you do.
Every year, I’m met with an overwhelming appreciation for the people and experiences I’ve had in the past year. I think about all the times I stressed out over something that doesn’t even matter now, or cried over someone who I barely think about anymore. I smile because those experiences have made me grow in some way and brought me closer to being who I am.
In the midst of midnight kisses and champagne glasses clinking, I think about people: people I know and people I don’t. And they’ll all be doing the same—reflecting back, looking forward. Taking in the scenery around them. Watching couples push aside their usual fighting to smile at one another into the coming year. Kids screeching with noisemakers and being excited at the idea of being awake so unusually late.
Confetti and glitter cover the streets as you walk home. You look up at the sky and it appears never-ending and wide open—just like the New Year. Fresh, uninterrupted with no history taking up space yet. You come home and slide into cold sheets and delight in the fact that you have so much more to experience—the smiles, the tears, the stress. It’s all waiting for you in the coming year.
New Year’s is probably the most optimistic day of the year.
