Friday open thread: new year's rituals

[dolorosa_12]

2025 is off to a fairly good start for me: my first day back at work today went smoothly (and, astonishingly, my various inboxes were reasonably empty, although I had to laugh at the student who sent us emails asking for help with a research project on a) Christmas Day and b) New Year's Day — that's keen), I've been swimming, I've read some good books.

My prompt this week is about new year's rituals — not resolutions, but things you do every year, around the turning point of the year. These might be cultural (like the Spanish tradition of eating grapes on the chimes counting down to midnight, for example), they could be specific to your family or household, or something individual.

Mine are fairly boring:

The house has to be clean before the change over to the new year (this makes me feel as if I'm scrubbing the grime of the previous year away and starting with a fresh, new slate)

Just after the stroke of midnight, I post a song on social media, with lyrics chosen to reflect my feelings about the new year (2025's was 'Vidlik' by Onuka; the relevant lyrics in translation: Countdown. Only. Future. Ready)

I have to start 1st January with a walk (this year, tragically, it didn't happen because a) I had a terrible cold and b) it was pouring with rain with howling wind)

The first book of the year (which I aim to have read by the end of 1st January) has to be a good one; I tend to save something up that I trust to be excellent, and usually my judgement holds up

What about you?

Comments

[dolorosa_12]

That is a fabulous tradition! We've been doing a movie marathon for the past five years or so, but not with classic films — they tend to be themed in other ways (so one year we watched all three LotR films, one year we watched all three MCU Thor films, this year we watched Luc Besson films, etc). I love your impeccably timed viewing programme, with the thematically appropriate first song of the year!