The best New Year’s Eve ritual EVER
Okay, it’s time. I’m giving you plenty of advance notice so you can do this right, because it’s one of the most enjoyable rituals I’ve ever heard of, and I’ve been doing it for about fifteen years now, and it still makes me happy every time. I’ve already converted dozens of my family and friends, so I hope that you, too, will discover how much you love it.
My friend Pete had a Korean mother-in-law (deceased now, unfortunately) who handed down what she said is an old Korean tradition: you make sure you go into the new year the way you want the rest of the year to go.
You want a year filled with abundance? Prosperity? Good looks? Relaxation? Happiness? Then do all of these by New Year’s Eve:
1. Fill your car up with gas so you’ll never run out;
2. Go grocery shopping to make sure you have plenty of food;
3. Have a good amount of cash in your wallet;
4. Clean your house;
5. Touch up whatever primping you do (dye your hair, do your nails, etc.);
6. Catch up on all your laundry;
7. Pay your bills;
8. Stock up on all those things you hate running out of: toilet paper, dish soap, deodorant, etc.
That’s just the basic list. You can add to it whatever you think you might like in the coming year. It might be baking bread to encourage yourself to cook more often, or going to a movie to make sure you see plenty of those, or curling up with a dog and a book to give yourself a year of quiet and contemplation (not to mention a head start on your 50-novel challenge).
My own additions to the list include camping out every New Year’s Eve to make sure I’ll continue camping and backpacking all year; telling stories around the campfire so I’ll be a prolific writer all year long; and calling my friend Carolyn for our year-end analysis of what went wrong and right, and how we’re going to improve ourselves in the coming year. If you don’t have someone to share that year-in-review with, do it yourself with pen and paper. Then do yourself a favor and keep the good list–the one of things you’d like to accomplish in the new year–and get rid of the bad list–all those mistakes you might have made. That’s part of our New Year’s Even camping ritual. I hand out paper and pens, we all confess to ourselves and no one else our multitude of errors, then we throw our papers into the fire. Ahhh. Sweet release.
So here it is, your chance at rebirth. We all deserve a fresh start. Give yourself every opportunity to make this coming year your favorite one so far. Spend New Year’s Eve with only those people you truly like. Order pizza or Chinese food, or cook what you most love to eat, and maybe hook yourself up with some Ben & Jerry’s if that would make you happy. Get dressed up and go out, or rent your favorite movie and cocoon, take a bubble bath by candlelight and drink champagne in the tub. And for heaven’s sake, buy yourself some Charmin because we all deserve soft butts in the new year, and for once when you go shopping for food or supplies don’t be cheap with yourself or say you don’t deserve nice things, because this is the new year and it’s time to treat yourself like the precious creature you are.
What will you be adding for your list?
Technorati Tags: New Year’s Eve
December 29th, 2006 at 9:33 am
What an excellent tradition. I got engaged last New Year’s, and I don’t think anything I do this year will come close that high I felt last year.
My goal in ‘07 is to learn how to do a split (crazy, I know… and I just blogged all about it!). I think it is an excellent goal and I plan to show off my new skills at a New Year’s Eve 2007 party! I’m also doing the 50 book challenge (as well as a 12 book challenge I found on 43things.com. Yours, Diana’s, and Barry’s books are three of my 12). It should be an excellent year!
December 29th, 2006 at 10:08 am
Christen, I’m honored to be part of your 12.
Good luck with the splits. First the Heelys, now this. Your life is way too fun.
December 29th, 2006 at 10:24 am
Hahaha… and I haven’t even mentioned my obsession with pole dancing yet!! I seriously need to live til I’m 100 because I have way too many things I need to learn how to do!
December 29th, 2006 at 10:37 am
Dude - - Sounds great! I see that you left off “romance.” I think I’ll take care of that Friday night, Saturday night AND Sunday night. 2007 is going to be the best year ever!
December 29th, 2006 at 1:11 pm
Are you sure the root cause of the splits ISN’T the heelies?
I do hope you get to pole dancing before you turn 70.
In the essence of disclosure, I was unable to acquire the Peterfreund book before Christmas, but did succeed before the end of the year. Because I am a male over thirty, I did have my wife with me, who bought herself a new Jeffery Deaver book. So, it looked like it was her Secret Society and my Bone Collector book.
It was the hardback, too.
December 29th, 2006 at 5:01 pm
We have a New Year’s money ritual in our house;we each put some cash under the doormat and after midnight,slide the bills back into our home so that money will hopefully flow in for the new year.
I went to see Dreamgirls today,to end the film year on a high note. That movie is so amazing,Jennifer Hudson needs an Oscar like right NOW!
December 29th, 2006 at 5:32 pm
Lady T, I love that ritual! How cool!
Re: Dreamgirls. My friend called me today with the same review. I will see it this weekend.
Patrick, it’s good you kept working at getting Secret Society Girl. Now you can be part of Diana’s secret society, too.
And thanks for drawing that connection between the heelies (heelys?) and the splits. You’re so damn smart.
December 30th, 2006 at 8:13 am
I’m totally missing the Heely/split connection.
December 30th, 2006 at 8:15 am
Your skates get away from you and you end up doing the splits.
At least that’s how I took it. You never know with Patrick.
December 30th, 2006 at 9:31 am
Oh! That makes sense. And wow… that would really hurt. My fiance asked my parents (who bought me the Heelys) if they plan to cover my ER costs, too. Luckily there have been no major accidents yet. (Perhaps we’ll make a video this weekend.)
December 30th, 2006 at 6:25 pm
Robin…I couldn’t agree with you more! I’ve already had my mani-pedi, I’ve been doing laundry all day, and I’ve stocked up the house with my most critical staples: brown rice, bottled water, dried fruits, nuts, and cheese. Also, I have a kooky tradition of preparing my taxes on New Year’s Day! I don’t really do all the math, I just go through my receipts, categorize my write-offs, and file everything away and give the log to my accountant. It feels so good to have it done well before the April anxiety begins! Another must - yoga on New Year’s Day.
December 31st, 2006 at 10:16 am
Yogini, you have definitely taken it to the next level. Your taxes?! Wow. I need to be more like you.
Thanks for the suggestion about yoga. I’m going this afternoon! (And tomorrow.)
December 31st, 2006 at 10:28 am
Yes, aim your right foot right and your left foot left. Lift toes. Report on results.
Are you trying for a side split or front split? Speaking of splits, I’ve got to give it up for the Jax Jaguars cheerleaders. I was at the Pats/Jags game last week and 40 of them dropped into a front split all the way to the field.
Ordinarily, not a big deal. Yeah, cheerleaders are flexible. So? But, here’s the thing. It was raining last Sunday. They dropped into a split on a wet grassy field. And then they hung out on the sidelines without drying off. That’s got to be uncomfortable…
Anyway, I’m not sure I’m understanding the rules of this exercise. Am I allowed to complete some of these things on the first? I’m mostly there. Decorations down. Cars washed, yard work done. Golf bag restocked(Need new clubs this year).
Would like to go get a massage today. But there are just some things I’m not going to get to.
So, is participating in this exercise essentially cursing me?
“You never know with Patrick.” - Hey!!!
December 31st, 2006 at 11:34 am
Oh, good–something new to add to my list of what hell would be like:
Dropping into a full split on a wet grassy field.