Why Is Celebration of New Year’s So Important?

New Year’s Eve is the one single occasion that is celebrated with so much pomp and splendour all over the world. It is the one single celebration that unifies so many people in its wake. A New Years party is an event that everyone, at some point of their life, has looked forward to attending. The New Year symbolizes new beginnings, a fresh start and a chance for you to begin new chapters in your life. Each culture has its own way of celebrating the biggest night of the year. Some attend midnight mass at church whilst others go out to attend crazy parties and raves to dance and enjoy till the sun dawns on the new day, still others stay at home having a nice dinner with their family and loved ones to bring in the New Year with love. An overwhelming number of New Year parties feature beautiful fireworks as their way of greeting the New Year. The parties themselves vary in style and size from fancy masquerade balls to raves by the beach. No matter what the size is or the location; New Years party is synonymous with fun, festivities and grandiose celebrations.

As the clock strikes midnight it is a time honoured tradition for some to give a kiss to the people that are close to their heart. In certain parts of the world, inclusive of the US, lots of people get together to sing the Scottish folk song, Auld Lang Syne. There are plenty of other little traditions interwoven into the New Year’s celebrations as well; for ex: the Dutch believe circles symbolize good luck and so they eat donuts on New Year’s Eve, China uses fireworks in order to ward off evil spirits, the Greeks bake a special cake, Vassilopitta, with a coin inside to bestow fortune and good favour on whoever finds the coin inside their slice, the Japanese dub their New Year’s party “Bonenkai” or “forget-the-year” parties to symbolize farewell to the previous year and prepare themselves for a better one ahead etc.

But why do we celebrate New Year’s with so much enthusiasm? What is it about a New Years party that makes you want to get all dolled up and celebratory? Why have we, the human race, attached so much significance to this one single night?

Of course there are multiple reasons as to why New Year’s is such an important event to most people; let’s have a look at some of them:

1. Having survived an entire year: Much like birthdays, being a part of a New Years party reassures that we have survived the previous year with all its difficulties, hurdles, heartbreaks and every other obstacle that you can think of; we have come out stronger and a better person. We also reminisce back on the good times, maybe you were finally qualified for that promotion you’d been working so hard for, maybe you proposed to the love of your life and they said yes, maybe you were able to welcome new life into the world,  it could be a million reasons. It is important to realize that every year comes with its own set of happy moments as well as sad. The important thing is to remember that you have withstood all of these times and become a better person for it. This becomes a reason for us to celebrate and that is exactly what we do when we commemorate the coming year with our favourite versions of the New Years party.
2. Improving yourself for the coming year: Sure it’s a great feeling to have survived the previous year and get a chance to begin anew; however, the whole point of the previous year was to give you a chance to look at yourself, your decisions and choices and how they’ve impacted your life. Once you’ve realised where the fault lies within you it is then time for you to take a step towards correcting this fault and making sure the past year hasn’t been in vain. This is where resolutions come in and we take a step towards becoming a better person. We want to become happier, healthier people and thus we promise to change little things within ourselves in order to become a better version of who we once were. New Year’s resolutions are instances of us wanting to have some control over our lives. What happens in the New Year is not in our hands, however how we react to it is definitely something that is within our control; resolutions represent us trying to regain some control at least of what lies ahead of us.
3. Chances to begin new chapters: The New Year gives us a chance to start over with a clean slate. This can be in reference to many things; maybe you aren’t happy with your career right now and are seeking something that’ll make you happier. Maybe you had a falling out with some family or friends and want to sort everything out with the people you love. Whatever it is, the upcoming year gives you an opportunity for fresh starts. This is one of the unique attributes of New Year’s that set it apart from other occasions and celebrations.
4. An excuse to party: Humans are simple people and one of the reasons we celebrate even the most mundane of occasions is because we find happiness in the simple things and celebrating it with our friends and family bring us joy. New Year’s party give us an excuse to have fun and party with those close to us and for that very simple reason as well New Year’s is important.

We can never be completely prepared for what lies ahead of us as it is a mystery; however what we can do is have a good time with the people we love, eat and make merry and welcome in the New Year with happiness; because if we’re surrounded by the people that matter then we can take anything that the next year throws at us.