It’s
interesting that this is the season that’s thought of as marking the end of the
year when it’s also marking the beginning of the year as well. Why is it that
there’s such a focus on the end of the year, when the beginning of the year
happens at – literally – exactly the same time?
I suppose
it’s probably because endings come before beginnings, and what’s right in front
of us is easier to see than what’s lurking behind it. It’s all rather
arbitrary, anyway, since it’s simply a time someone in the past chose to start
counting from, yet we shape our minds around it.
For
example, the end of the year is when it’s important to be with family and to be
generous, showing people how much you care. Which is silly, because you should
care about people the whole year round, but I feel it also says a lot about humanity
as a whole.
“Look! The year is coming to an
end, better get together with family before time runs out!” Then the New Year
comes and everything becomes about taking strides forward – making this year better than the last. And all
the important things, like friends and family, get pushed into the back of the
mind until we realize that another year is almost over, so we’d better get
together.
As a
species, we love symbols and traditions. Having a checkpoint that we pass every
year is a nice way to tell ourselves that we can keep growing and improving,
and it gives us a point to use as a starting line. Yet, we’re also supposed to
put our best foot forward, so wouldn’t it make more sense to get together with
friends and family at the start of the year, rather than procrastinating until
the end of the year?
We could
even split the difference. We could shift the New Year to the beginning of
winter, rather than the end, and have our traditional get-togethers at both the
beginning and end of the year. Or we
could move the New Year to the most sensible place to have it start, at the
beginning of spring, and we’d get together in the middle of the year.
Or, of
course, we could simply decide that what’s important to us is important for the
whole year. Not everything has to have a set time or place. Time is just an
imaginary construct we have so we can organize things, anyway. Perhaps we
should stop using time as an excuse.
Check out my YouTube channel where I tell the stories of my D&D campaigns.
Also, make sure you check out my wife's blog and her website.
If there's any subject you'd like to see me ramble on about, feel free to leave a comment asking me to do so.
