Which is better: to look forward or to look back?
Unfortunately, there is no easy answer. Looking forward to 2023 brings excitement, but also a tinge of premature guilt. Will you actually keep up your resolution to journal everyday, or will your journal end up abandoned underneath your bed by week 3 of the new year?
It happens to us all, but looking backward is no different. 2022 in review showcases a reel of our worst moments– moments we really hope we won’t experience again in the following year, like a twisted Spotify Wrapped.
Those last few days of the year and the first few of the new year are uncomfortable. The New Year forces us into an in-between state where we exist entirely duplicated- one version still in 2022 and the other already rushing into 2023. Of course, there is always the option to ignore it, to invest so greatly in the now that we dodge the feeling that we must be reborn at the start of a certain day, but is this the better choice? When you say goodbye to something or to someone, does it feel like an ending or the beginning of you, without it or them? Or do you feel entirely present in the moment?
The New Year provides to us, in our hands, time as tangible as it will ever be. Pull, tug, rip, and scratch at it. Twist it around; move it in every direction. It is yours to do as you please. Make a list of a hundred resolutions and sincerely try to follow them, or reflect on how your 2022 went and ignore our movement into the next year. Stand completely still and see how you feel. Approach and attack time however feels best to you. Don’t get bogged down by an influence that doesn’t line up with what you want for yourself. Even this article– if wrestling with time isn’t your approach, pretend you never read the idea (I won’t mind!).
The New Year is scary in the way it presents to you a sudden choice; the comfort is that the choice is entirely yours to make.