I’ve been so discombobulated lately that I have a hard time telling the days of the week apart, and now I have to keep track of different years? This is not going to go well.
New here? Longtimer? Feel free to pull up a chair, settle in, hang out. As with an “open house” in real life, the pretext for the gathering matters less than providing the setting for a conversation.
2022 was a terrible year in some respects and I will be very, very glad to see it go. At the same time, there was also better-than-expected political news among many other bright spots along the way. So it’s been an up and down year and I’m not really sure how I feel about it ending. All I know is I feel 2023 is rushing toward me and I am not ready. But just as science is true whether you believe in it or not, the new year arrives whether you are ready for it or not!
Welcome once again to weekly Open House, a hangout we hope to post on a regular basis. We want to offer a pressure-free platform for all users, newbies or longtimers, to come discuss site features and site norms. Think of it as a cross between “Ask Me Anything” and a “How do I?” with the best part, as always, arising from the conversation we have in the comments. Polls will feature prominently and will always include some version of pie.
I remember my mom used to spend part of New Years Eve writing the number of the new year into all the checks in her checkbook. Do people still write checks anymore? Are there any practical things like that that people still do? I have some files I separate by year so I’ll have to create some 2023 files for various purposes. Are new years resolutions still a thing? The fitness industry certainly hopes so. I’II have to get in a grocery order today to make sure I have my traditional new years foods on hand; is that a custom in your family or culture? Are you the kind of person who does a thorough house cleaning for the new year, sweeping away the old dust to make room for fresh air? (I wish I could be like that LOL ...)
Some folks don’t relate to the rebirth symbolism of Christmas. For many the solstice came and went without any marking of the miracle that the light always returns. But the newness of the calendar changing—a new day, a new month, a whole new year—usually does grab almost everyone, even though a new number at the end of the calendar date is just an arbitrary thing we decided on, and the start of the “new year” is celebrated on many different days in a multicultural world.
Basically where do you fall on the continuum of being ready for a new year? Was 2022 so good that time is going to have to grab it out of your tightly clenched hands to make you let it go? Did 2022 suck eggs so bad that you are counting the seconds until the chance for a clean slate?
Please share appropriate New Years Eve music, or plans you have to get ready for the new year, or rants you want to get off your chest about 2022, or words of hope for 2023, or anything you have on your mind really, since this is an open thread. Vent, rejoice, ask questions, check in, or just tell us whatever you’re doing (or not doing) while you’re waiting on the world to change.
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