I have just spent morning tea-time perusing Facebook and my blog lists. Not surprising is the plethora of New Year's acknowledgments; predictions; hopes; reflections. Peppered through all is the undercurrent of New Year resolutions. In the spirit of being a crowd-follower, I decided to add in my proverbial "two-cents" to the saturation of New Year-speak.
My "two cents" (adjusted for recession/inflation/global economic woes) are varied questions on the theme:
Why do we feel resolutions are necessary with the advent of a new year?
What is the human drive to "clean the slate" and start afresh...at least every 12 months?
How is it that we proceed consciously through our lives on a society-created timeline only wanting to "leave certain things behind" at the striking of a clock?
Why do we wait for milestones (anniversaries, births, deaths, divorce and disease) to make vows to "change"/"recreate" ourselves?
I am familiar with the laws of time & physics that restrain us from going backwards. Our only option (therefore, not a choice) is to move forward. As such, what I grapple with as a bemused participant is, that despite being confined to the realities of the space-time continuum we still find ourselves living in the moment, compelled regardless to move forward, yet looking backward to release ourselves from the choices we made at the time?
Which then leads me to the most puzzling of questions: why is there such redundancy in how we move forward?
My "two cents" (adjusted for recession/inflation/global economic woes) are varied questions on the theme:
Why do we feel resolutions are necessary with the advent of a new year?
What is the human drive to "clean the slate" and start afresh...at least every 12 months?
How is it that we proceed consciously through our lives on a society-created timeline only wanting to "leave certain things behind" at the striking of a clock?
Why do we wait for milestones (anniversaries, births, deaths, divorce and disease) to make vows to "change"/"recreate" ourselves?
I am familiar with the laws of time & physics that restrain us from going backwards. Our only option (therefore, not a choice) is to move forward. As such, what I grapple with as a bemused participant is, that despite being confined to the realities of the space-time continuum we still find ourselves living in the moment, compelled regardless to move forward, yet looking backward to release ourselves from the choices we made at the time?
Which then leads me to the most puzzling of questions: why is there such redundancy in how we move forward?
Alas, I have no answers to your very fine questions. Wash, rinse, repeat seems to be the story of my life some days! (Heck, some years!) Maybe it is because we are forced to move forward by time that we drag our heals like stubborn children... I definitely do that!
ReplyDeleteI don't have answers to your questions either...I guess we all like to think we can start over or erase past mistakes and the New Year gives us permission to do that. I'm not much for resolutions, but...to each their own. I tend to think of each day as a fresh start. Many more chances that way, right?
ReplyDeleteNancy & Renn - I think there are no answers that make objective sense. We, as a species, are still a "work in progress" - and ones still at an early stage of development, if we are honest about our collective human behavior. Personally, I am fascinated by how we instinctively "seek permission" and look with anticipation for "fresh starts". I suppose utopia/nirvana/eden would be living each day deeply satisfied with how our prior day(s) have been.
ReplyDeleteYou pose excellent, insightful questions, questions that I often wonder about. It is the same thing, year in, year out, isn't it? I don't believe in New Year's resolutions and instead view each day as a new year of a sort. I don't think we should delegate a particular day for when we want to start anew.
ReplyDelete@Beth - You, Nancy & Renn continue to raise an interesting concept: the concept of "starting anew". Whether it be at the dawn of a new day or new year, why is it so important to "us" to have the opportunity to start anew?
ReplyDelete