The celebration of the new year on Jan. 1 is a relatively new phenomenon; it was celebrated in 2000 B.C. in mid-March, and the Egyptians and Persians began their year with the fall equinox.
The first time it was celebrated on Jan. 1 was in Rome in 153 B.C.; and in 46 B.C., Julius Caesar introduced a new, solar-based calendar, which synchronized the calendar with our planet’s journey back toward the sun.
The month of January was named for the god of all beginnings, the two-headed god, Janus.
One head looks forward, the other back, enabling him to see both the past and the future. Like Janus, at the new year, we often reminisce about the past year while at the same time resolving to try to do better in the future.
The Jewish New Year of Rosh Hashanah (sundown, Sept. 16) is a holy time when people reflect on wrongs in the past and make a promise to do better in the future.
When we lived in Japan, at Oshogatsu or New Year’s, neighbors felt it was very important to do everything as perfectly as possible on Jan 1, from having a spotless home to paying off all debts.
They feel that whatever you do on the first day sets the tone for the rest of the year.
I’ve always liked that idea; instead of making impossible-to-keep New Year’s resolutions, just try to get off to a good start.
My year has always started with two calendars — a large one that remains on the desk and a smaller version, which I carry with me and which, hopefully, I have kept updated with appointments from the desk version.
My daughter feels this system is positively medieval, and I agree that it is nowhere as efficient or impressive as her iPhone. Continued...
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Put Marianne down in the middle of any strange city, and the iPhone not only will have given her the directions by which she has arrived, but it will also find the best Chinese, Italian or French restaurant within any pre-determined radius and make reservations as well.
Additionally, she will have, the address, phone number and birthday of everyone she has known since she was 3 years old.
I mean, it is a truly impressive gadget and I see its many advantages; but in addition to the cost, the main reason I haven’t as yet, succumbed, is I think I lack the amount of time and stamina necessary just to master the basics of what it can do.
However, I recently read that the newest version will be voice-activated, and if I could just speak commands to it, I might be willing to give up my current system, although I think I might miss flipping through former calendar books to see what I was doing on, say, March 20th of any given year.
Which reminds me that “Auld Lang Syne,” the Scottish song sung at the stoke of midnight in almost every English-speaking country in the world, literally means “old long ago” or “the good old days,” so if I’m not always quite up to the minute or in step with the times, just chalk it up to the fact that I think there’s a lot to be said for a few old-fashioned ways and “the good old days.”
A toast to the past and hopes for a bright, peaceful tomorrow.
- Article by Jean Cherni, founder of the retirement advisory service, Senior Living Solutions. Contact her at jeancherni@sbcglobal.net or 15 The Ponds at Hotchkiss Grove, Branford 06405.
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