(This blog written to Damien Rice's cover of U2's "One")
I remember hearing Jerry Seinfeld say once, I think regarding birthdays, "I don't understand what the big deal is. All you did was not die for a year." I think this has always been my take on the New Year's holiday. It feels very much like we are just looking for an excuse to not work for a day and though we spend much of the year complaining about the passage of time, we seem pretty psyched to celebrate getting a chance to write a new number on all of our checks, or in my case, research papers.
We have fun traditions, like New Year's resolutions, which are somewhat like trying to empty the sand from the ocean beach, one spoonfull at a time. The reality is.......all that has happened is we've gotten older, just like yesterday. Only there is something big here to mark that fact.
Now, I'm not really a cynical person, so this type of writing is a little off-character for me, but I am fascinated by the role holidays play in manufacturing safety and structure for us. Having a child of my own now has brought this into a new light in my world. This Christmas, I was sitting and wondering what I want my child to experience on the holidays. Soon, I was imagining Kenya and I running like Marshawn Lynch down Pike St. in Seattle, dodging the NOISE like defensive lineman who, not unlike a Dementor, are seeking to suck any truth and real meaning from the holidays just as my daughter has started to feel the spirit of love eminating from that manger mom sets out on the mantel once a year. I followed the daydream to it's end and found my daughter and I meditating in a monestary somewhere in the Sinai Desert. Even there, in my daydream, there was a guy selling little hand-carved baby-Jesus statues just outside for a "very good deal". It was discouraging, to say the least.
Here's where most of my friends say, "Geez Seth. Why do you have to go all 'what is the meaning of all this' all the time? Just relax a little and try to enjoy yourself." And that's probably good advice. I'll try to. When the clock counts down tonight and we all hoop and holler or kiss someone and make meaning of this specific tic of the clock, I'll try to be present right there, right then. And maybe I'll know God right there, right then. And maybe that's the point of it all. Maybe New Year's isn't the celebration of time passed, but rather the celebration of a moment outside of time. And maybe that's what I see in my daughter's eyes when those Christmas lights sparkle, something eternal and true. Happy New Year everyone. :-)
