The New Year’s Eve ritual
Back by popular demand, it’s our favorite New Year’s Eve ritual! Once you start doing this every year, I don’t think you’ll be able to stop–it just feels so great. You can use this list as your base, and then add on items that matter to you. Have a great time with it! Here’s the background and the list:
Years ago my buddy Pete told me about his Korean mother-in-law’s tradition for New Year’s Eve. The theory is you want to go into the new year the way you want the rest of the year to go. If you want abundance, ease, order, fun, etc., these are among the things you do:
–Fill your car with gas.
–Fill your cupboards and refrigerator with groceries.
–Put money in your pocket.
–Catch up on your bookkeeping/bills.
–Clean your house.
–Catch up on your laundry and ironing.
–Clear out any old clothes in your closet that don’t fit or that you don’t absolutely love anymore, and give them away so someone else can start enjoying them right now.
–Catch up on your beauty routine (color your hair, do your nails, pluck your eyebrows, etc.)
–Eat the kind of food that you love.
–Pick an event for yourself on New Year’s Eve that symbolizes the kinds of things you want to do more of in the coming year. For my husband and me, it’s always getting outside more, so we go camping on New Year’s Eve.
Those are just a few suggestions, but you get the picture.
Maybe it sounds silly, but I swear doing these kinds of activities to start a new year fresh feels SO GOOD. I really look forward to it every year. I’m all about the fresh start.
Off to go do some cleaning now. Tomorrow, handle the gas and groceries. Then instead of camping this year, spend New Year’s Eve with our new puppy, Moose, helping him adjust to the routines of our home, and helping the older dog, Bear, adjust to the new little brother. He’s pretty skeptical, I gotta say. We’re working on it.
Hope you all are having some lovely holidays. Happy 2013!
LOOK AT MOOSE! Do you spend all day just telling him he’s the most adorable dog ever? That’s probably what I’d be doing. (I do this with babies, too. It’s an illness, I swear.)
Of course, I’d also be telling Bear that he is adorable AND wise.
Happy new year to all of you!
Adrienne! Nice to see your face/words! Thanks for telling Moose he’s cute–I’ve purposely not told him so he won’t get all arrogant.
I know there was lots going on for you in 2012. Hope 2013 will be FANTABULOUS for you!!
I love this idea — I sharpened a bunch of pencils the other day, and it is SO nice having a sharp pencil when I need one (even though I generally prefer pens). One of my goals this year is to become earlier to bed and earlier to rise. I’m thinking of having a morning celebration instead of a midnight one!
Alysa, love this! Sharp pencils are a great idea! Makes me also want to weed through all my pens and throw away any that are out of ink. Thanks for that inspiration!
And yes to the sleeping more. I’ve finally had to start saying out loud, “I don’t owe it to anyone to stay up past 8:00 if I don’t want to.” I don’t know why, but I used to be embarrassed to go to bed as early as I wanted to sometimes. Why? Were the bedtime police going to show up? So high five to you on the early to bed thing. You have my complete support.
And if you ever feel weird about going to bed before 9:00, know I have your back.