New Year’s is one of the biggest holidays in the country and one of the most celebrated nights of the year. Every single year, New Year’s encourages people to reflect on their past, think about change for the future and to have a little fun in the process. So why is New Year’s so special and why do so many people celebrate the New Year and it’s symbolism? Well, there are a few different answers to this question, but in short, there is actually a substantial amount of evidence as to why we celebrate like we do:
The Symbolism
There are plenty of holidays out there, but not that many that get the same attention and celebrations as New Year’s. This is because there is so much symbolism attached to the holiday. Most people want to celebrate the end of one year and the beginning of the next, because it feels so meaningful and important. It is about closing one chapter and opening another.
There is the symbolism of setting yourself up for the coming year, of acting as though what you do on this day will dictate what type of person you will be for the next 365 days. There is the adage that how you spend New Years is how you will spend the rest of your year, and many people put a great deal of value behind this idea. New Years is symbolic of setting new resolutions for ourselves, of attaching one day and one moment to the symbolism of us being better. It is the symbolism that motivates so many people to celebrate the holiday.
The Celebration
There are many people who feel that New Years is all about the symbolism behind new beginnings. There are others, who are simply in it for a reason to celebrate. It may not sound like a real scientific explanation, but it is science in a way. It is the same reason so many people celebrate their birthdays. It is a reason to act a certain way.
New Years is a reason to celebrate, drink, stay out late and have fun, just like our birthdays are a reason to throw a party and accept gifts from others. Not everyone puts stake in the symbolism behind New Years, but some put stake in the fact that it is an excuse to have fun.
The Feeling of “Making It”
The idea behind celebrating a birthday is actually to celebrate the accomplishment of survival. When you celebrate your birthday you are celebrating that you made it another year, that you survived another 12 months of existence. The same idea holds true for New Years. We can all get together and celebrate the fact that we all survived another year of existence. We all made it, whether good or bad, through an entire year of ups and downs. While it may not seem like that big of a deal, it is a reason to celebrate for many people.
The Fresh Slate
One of the biggest things that makes New Years so popular has to do with the resolutions. This idea that we are all going to be different in the New Year and that we are going to be better as well. With that comes the idea that the year before is in the past. That it doesn’t matter what happened in the year before anymore because we have a new, fresh slate to start with once New Year’s Day comes. This is part of the reason behind why so many people go to late night parties on New Year’s Eve. It is one last chance to act poorly or gluttonous before the fresh slate begins.
The Promise of Tomorrow
For most people, the idea of making resolutions on New Years all centers around being better, feeling better, or making yourself better. There is a refreshing idea in the minds of many people that tomorrow they can be better. They can be a different person and they can start being the type of person they have always wanted to be. Whether that person is nicer, richer, skinnier or happier, the promise of tomorrow and of the person they could be truly motivates people to celebrate New Years.
No matter what your reason is for celebrating New Years, I hope you have a good one :)