I'm pretty ambivalent about New Years.
It's pretty customary to start new things at the beginning of each year. People say things like "new year, new me!" and "a new year, a fresh start." We make resolutions that we have every intention of keeping: lose 25 pounds, workout three times a week, be more honest, stop cursing, spend more time with family, etc. We say things like "(insert year here), be good to me," or "(insert year here), please be better than (previous year here)." But really, I don't think there's any time like the present to start something new, no matter what date it is. It could be July 19th, and you could start a new diet. On May 4th you could stop cursing, stop drinking or spend that much needed time with your dog that you've been meaning to do for ages. Each year is really up to you and how you make it, just like each day.
Don't get me wrong, I love New Years. I love how it begins another chapter in our lives. I love all the hope and plans and hype people put into it. I love planning the party with my friends and family to ring in the new year with my favorite people. But like I said, there's no time like the present to start becoming a "new you," whatever that may mean. January 1st is but one of a staggering three-hundred and sixty-five days that are not only fresh, new days, but days that we have to start something. To begin a journey. To start a new project. To start exercising. To start showing people you care. To wake up with the mindset that today is a new day, and a fresh start. I get that January 1st is the start of a new year, but I will not be someone that postpones something new until the start of a new year. There is no making excuses for "bad" behavior or habits just because I want to wait until the new year to start being better. After all, don't wise people ask "why put off until tomorrow what you can do today?"
So it is with that mindset that I have started my blog fresh on January 2nd instead of January 1st. In truth, today was the first day I really put some thought into what my new blog layout would be, what I wanted to put in it, and what I'd like to say about myself to those who read it. After thinking about this in the car on the way home from a little shopping trip, I poured myself a massive mug of tea, sat down with my laptop, and started renovating my trusty blog. I began blogging the second semester of my freshman year of college. I now completely redo it, exactly three years later, with completely different intentions.
So, in a totally cliche way that people end their first blog post...
Cheers. To a fresh, new blog and a new year (and a not so fresh, new me).
[Photo found on reddit]
