Growing up my family didn’t really celebrate New Year’s. I think because it is a drinking holiday, and we didn’t drink. It might also have something to do with the fact that my parents were teachers, and after traveling to Louisiana for Christmas visits, by the time New Year’s came around they were exhausted and didn’t really give a fuck. That actually seems plausible.
So at most we would watch Dick Clark’s Rockin New Year’s Eve show on TV (or was it called New Year’s Rockin Eve? I’m not going to take the time now to look it up.) Then we’d go to bed, and I’d wake up the next morning and maybe watch a disappointing parade. Because let’s face it, any New Year’s parade paled in comparison to the Thanksgiving parades. Any parade without an Underdog float lazily flying down the street with a look of great confidence and resolve on its face is sub-par.
As a sidenote, this year we watched some Thanksgiving Day parades. Most of the televised coverage was essentially commercials for various different musical groups and shows. It sucked. Have people forgotten Underdog?
As an adult I’ve come to really appreciate New Year’s Eve as the one holiday that’s actually adult-oriented. I don’t drink, and never have, and really don’t appreciate the connection with alcohol at all. But I do appreciate the idea that there is one holiday in the year that doesn’t cater to children. OK – maybe drunk children? But mostly it’s for adults.
Tonight, rather than spend the whole evening watching the festivities from around the world, we’re going to spend at least a couple of hours watching a live stream on Twitch of our friends’ band playing. It’s their New Year’s Eve virtual show. It will be fun. One of the many great #blessings of the pandemic was streaming entertainment done live by real people. It really helped everyone stay connected. While I do appreciate not being terrified of the virus all the time now I also recognize that the pandemic spurred a lot of creativity. The social isolation wasn’t easy and certainly had its detrimental effects, but I have to say it was the one time in my adult life when I didn’t feel the pressure to rush around like an idiot all the time. People had time.
I didn’t really have any official New Year’s resolutions last year. I had it in the back of my mind, or maybe the front, that I was going to do more game-mastering for my two campaigns. This was challenging because I’m involved in a lot of different things. But with great intention I dialed back my other activities and focused on my gaming. And I did in fact succeed in this goal. I’m very happy about this because I enjoy running my games, and I especially enjoy being with my gaming group, both in person at the table and online. They are very important people to me. Most of us are old friends, and those who are new are just as important. Our gaming group is more than just a gaming group. We lift each other up when we need it.
I also made great progress this year in freeing myself from the pernicious twin Cults of Productivity and Optimization. I spent time sitting on the couch with my wife and our dog and our cat listening to music. Just listening. Listening to wonderful music on the Big Stereo and enjoying being alive here on this planet with the person most important to me and our sweet little companions. I will continue this.
Anyway, happy New Year you animals.