Goodbye 2020, and hello 2021! The past 12 months really threw a lot at us. There were bushfires in Australia, murder hornets in BC, Black Lives Matter protests across North America, and a worldwide pandemic. With such a whirlwind year finally behind us, I think many people are breathing out a huge sigh of relief. This year will be different—it will be better.
Or will it?
I’ve always found it interesting how people say that “this year will be so different from last year.” Or how they think that they’ll be a completely new person on January 1, just because they made some resolution that they’re most likely going to give up after a few weeks.
Time is a theoretical concept. It’s completely irrelevant when looking at the universe as a whole. Us humans only adopted our calendar year of 12 months because it helped us balance out the seasons. And the seasons in these 12 months only occur because of the way random space rocks orbit each other. It’s hard to get more irrelevant than that.
So why are people so convinced next year will be better? Why do people say “new year, new me!” and think it to be true?
There are a few possibilities to consider. Perhaps people are in denial, and they really think that the next year will be different. Maybe they like the idea of change, but not the reality of it. Maybe they hear other people say it and repeat it out of habit.
It’s hard to say for sure, but I think that humans as a species have difficulty regulating the time we spend on Earth. We’re so quick to dismiss days, weeks, months, and, apparently, even years. We spend our days waiting for “the day I’m able to legally drink,” “the day I finally have enough money to put a down payment on a house,” or “the day when I’m content with where I am in life.” No matter how we view our time here on earth, one thing’s for sure—that theoretical clock never stops ticking.
Even though the way we keep track of time is as irrelevant as can be, there’s always going to be an end to our time being alive. Maybe that’s why the phrase “new year, new me” irks me so much. Lots of people will wait an abstract amount of time to get started with a new project or make a change in their lives. Our days are limited—shouldn’t we be doing these things sooner rather than later?
Let’s say the world ends tomorrow, and we can’t stop it. Would you be satisfied? Or would you be wishing you had spent more time with your loved ones? What about that bathroom reno that had always been in the back of your mind? Would you be okay knowing that wish will never be fulfilled? Would you have taken on a second language earlier in life had you known your days were limited?
I propose these questions not as a criticism (I myself am as guilty as anyone else for procrastination) but as a suggestion. Moving into 2021, the issues from 2020 aren’t going to disappear. We need to take action for a better world, for a better version of ourselves, and for humanity, while we still have time left on earth.
We don’t need to wait for the new year to make a change. We can start at any time we like. Maybe that means we’ll finally stop saying “new year, new me.” Or maybe we won’t. But the choice is ours to make.
Time may be irrelevant, but our choices aren’t.