It happens this way every year, doesn't it? Just when we have recovered somewhat from the excesses of Christmas, wham it's straight in to thinking about how to celebrate New Year's. And these days, this is not just  New Year singular. Because so many people now describes it as ''New Year's''.  Plural. With capitals. Sometimes with an apostrophe. With the letter 's' at the end. But more of that in a minute- back to Christmas briefly....

Seems many people did indeed want to get into the excesses that are on offer at this time of year, if the number of responses I got to last week's post was anything to go by. You might recall I suggested that although sensible advice for how to manage  the festive season comes at us from every which direction, most of us would choose to ignore it. Visits to my blog  went crazy. Confirming my suspicions that we do actually know how to manage Christmas in healthy and sensible ways- but just don't want to.  Anyway, I hope you had a good Christmas- that you  gifted wisely and also received some nice things that you could enjoy (or at least exchange for what you really want). You probably ate too much, and  maybe you were passively aggressive to those relatives who drove all through the night just to spend Christmas with you. Where would we be without Christmas- Big Sigh....

So, now to the  next big challenge on the holiday calendar: what to do for New Year(s)....  If you are young, it does seem really important to have something  exciting lined up in advance. Ideally alcohol and music probably need to be part of the mix.  (And although I should be somewhat responsible here, and mention something about moderation, etc, we know how such advice would be received....).

If the invitations are a bit thin on the ground for this year, it's  probably wise to actually  invent something. But what ever you do or don't do, if you are aged under thirty  do not seen to be home before midnight and thereby  risk total social humiliation. Or if your night is a complete write-off through no fault of your own, of course, and you do find yourself home by 10pm, and the only exciting thing ahead is a  cup of hot chocolate- at least keep the lights off while you drink it.

Older people will be less pre-occupied with partying and wild celebrating- maturity and wisdom means that we have moved on from such shallow pleasures. Coupled with the fact that,  well,  there haven't actually been any invites this year...

Older folks can quietly stay indoors and appreciate the more subtle aspects of celebrating  New Year. For instance it requires hardly any frenetic gift buying,  and the Christmas left-overs are mostly gone from the fridge. Plus those pesky relatives  from afar that were lurking around over Christmas have again departed for parts unknown (just kidding- I actually love this time of year, as a relaxed time to re-connect with people that I may not see much of, at other times...). 

Here in Christchurch New Zealand, we all kind of hope that the New Year will bring a new beginning with a year that does not include earthquakes. The South Island has had a challenging second half of the year.  A new round of shallow and powerful quakes close to the city center on December 26th  had us all on edge for most of the day, as there were around 15 or 16 of them in total. There was again some serious damage, just at a time that we were all finally picking ourselves up and moving on from the big quakes in September. But we are a resilient little city, and we will continue to move forward.

Anyway- Happy New Year(s)- regardless of how many new years you will actually be celebrating, and good luck with those changes you plan to bring to your life.