2010!!! (+ Some random thoughts)
Today is 01-01-2010. Holy shit.
I spent New Year's Eve at my friend's sleepover. At half eleven I wrapped myself in at least 5 layers of clothing of various thicknesses against the freezing -15 night, and we ran to the lakeside to not miss the midnight fireworks. However, it was a pity that we somehow managed to not realise the clock had struck midnight until 00:03. We had the most perfect and beautiful view for fireworks I've ever seen. We stood on a hill top right along a lake, so we had the view of fireworks on our side of the lake (and groups of drunk people as additional entertainment) while the fireworks on the other side of the lake acted as background decoration.
When the colourful flowers were all exploding in the air above my head and the sound of tinnitus ringing in my ear, I felt streams of excitement shoot through me. A new year, a new decade, with new opportunities, adventures, and experiences. This was the first time in ages that I've welcomed the next year with open arms, excitement and anticipation. There've been too many years in the past when I've been able to basically predict how my next year will be, with it turning out that I'm not such a bad seer, i.e. my predictions have all been pretty accurate. But this year, as I tried to picture the coming year in my head, I couldn't picture it. I love the fact that I have no freaking clue how my year is going to look like, I love this unpredictableness (what's the noun? I definitely made that one up). There are so many questions running through my mind that I couldn't answer: will I finally get into med-school? How will my med-school interviews go? How much longer will I stay in London? What else will happen to me in London? Will I move in with my boyfriend? Will we last the entire year? Or two, three, four years? Will I fall completely in love with him? Will my sister move to America? Will my parents move to China?
I've realised there are two ways to look at New Year. I've always looked at it as a new start even though I've not always been positive about it, usually just neutral. A few days ago, I met up with a few friends in town, and we were discussing what our plans were during New Year's Eve. One of them (the slightly more pessimistic one) who had no solid plans argued that it's quite stupid to celebrate a new year, because it's a day just like any other day if you think about it. She does have a point, it is just another day in our lives as usual. It's not like we're going to feel any significant changes in the range of 24 hours between the 31st and the 1st. We've sort of made up the concept of a "new" year, while it's really just a linear continuation of our days. Right now, I have to argue that I prefer to think of the new year as a a new start. Maybe it's because I've been feeling happy and optimistic lately, but I think the notion of a "new start" is a good thought. It mentally prepares us for another few hundred days of our lives, and gives us determination and motivation to initiate or improve areas of our lives.
Guys, let's make this year a good one not only for ourselves, but also for each other. Let's look out for each other, help and support each other. Have a good year!
