Does the New Year really feel so ‘new?’ Life seems to continue the same way it did on December 31st so what’s really the big change on January 1st? I don’t mean to hate the idea of celebrating the start of a new year, but nothing feels so new about it. While it can be a great time to gather with friends and family and cherish memories of the previous year, I just don’t get the hype over New Year’s in general. Particularly this year, it just didn’t give off the same vibe as it used to before.

The New Year is one of those holidays that many people assume everyone celebrates. However, the start of a New Year can be different for many people based on their culture and religion. Specifically living in the U.S., the hype to celebrate the New Year is overwhelming. There’s also this FOMO (fear of missing out) if you don’t celebrate the New Year because everyone around you did.

People gather up hours before the New Year begins in places like Times Square just to see the ball drop. However, the celebration of the New Year is all within 10 seconds–where everyone counts down the last few seconds of the previous year and welcomes in the New Year, but then what? People congratulate one another about the New Year for a month and then life goes on the same. You go back to the same routine or you feel the need to change that up with the start of a new year.

“New year, new me,” is a common phrase used at the time of the New Year every single year. The pressure to change yourself with the start of a new year is quite real. Everyone is constantly asking one another about their New Year’s resolutions and how they plan on implementing that new change. Since the new year started, everyone needs to have new goals in mind. Trying something new to benefit yourself is wonderful, but why does it have to be with the New Year? If you want to achieve a goal or change yourself, you can do that whenever you feel the need for it. Change can be enforced at any given time, what makes it special to have it occur on New Years? Most New Years resolutions don’t end up working out either because in the beginning people feel motivated to try something new, but they end up being inconsistent with that goal in a week or two. For example, working out and getting into shape is a very common resolution. At first, going to the gym might be easy but making it into a routine can be difficult.

Don’t get me wrong, celebrating the New Year can be a fun time, especially when spent with friends and family, but I think it’s just hyped up too much. There are too many expectations with a holiday that only changes the date.