It’s one of those rare internet memes that’s all text and no image. It reads: “Nobody claim 2023 as ‘your year.’ We’re all going to walk in real slow. Be good. Be quiet. Be cautious and respectful. Don’t touch anything.”
A similar meme went around before the last couple New Years, with “2021” and “2022,” respectively.
After three years of sickness, political vitriol and global and economic tumult, no one can be blamed for approaching the new year with wariness. Some of us are still processing 2020, and the last two years feel like little more than an extended nightmare, where the lows feel like rock bottom and the highs feel like barely getting your head above water.
In the midst of both figurative and literal darkness, we’ve been thinking about what our ancestors used to do during these cold winter months.
Almost every culture across the globe celebrates the winter solstice and New Year’s (though the exact dates may vary), many with traditions dating back hundreds to thousands of years, while many in the modern world celebrate religious (or secularized) holidays like Hanukkah and Christmas.
If you take the time to read about a few of these holidays, you may notice that, despite the thousands of miles separating each locale, many of the traditions are familiar: coming together with family and friends; bright lights to chase away the darkness; loud noise to scare away bad luck; sharing food with friends and strangers alike; exchanging gifts as symbols of love and good will.
The exact look and feel of our modern celebrations may be different — setting off fireworks instead of shooting pistols or smashing plates, watching the ball drop in Time’s Square instead of listening for church bells — but at their core, they are the same as our distant ancestors’.
Ancient Romans celebrated Saturnalia with massive feasts and merry-making. The Hopi of northern Arizona hold an all-night vigil on the solstice, lighting fires and dancing as they wait for the sun to rise. Iranians celebrate Shab-e Yalda with large gatherings and charitable acts. In Spain, revelers mark the New Year by trying to eat 12 grapes before the 12 strokes of midnight end for 12 months of good luck. The Scottish hold that the “First Footing” sets the tone for the next year. (You want someone tall and dark to be the first one across your home’s threshold after midnight.) In the U.S., most of us greet the New Year with a toast and a kiss.
The thing about tradition is that we often take it for granted; we do this because that’s how it’s always been done.
But there’s some timeless wisdom encapsulated in those traditions that perhaps we need to bring into our daily lives in 2023: Surround yourself with light to keep darkness at bay. Spend time with people you love, even when time feels scarce. Be kind to strangers, because you don’t know what fortune they may bring you. Be generous if good will has found you, but don’t let bitterness overtake you if not. And, good food makes everything better — especially when shared.
Happy New Year’s, everyone. 2023 may not be anyone’s “year,” but we hope it’s a better one for us all.
