Nearly five days deep into 2016, I bet you thought you weren’t going to find out what sandra thinks about the New Year. And you were almost right. I wasn’t going to do it. No New Year post.
However.
I have caved.
I’ve read many blog posts over the last few days extolling the feelings of renewal and fresh starts that the New Year brings. I’ve encountered the words ‘hope’ and ‘goals’ and ‘reflection’ and [ugh… shoot me…] ‘resolutions’ more often in the last five days than one can sustain without risk of vomiting. I’ve seen lists of things people accomplished or experienced in the last year and lists of what they hope to accomplish in the new one.
This post isn’t going to be quite like those.
A few days ago we slipped from 2015 to 2016. I barely remembered it was going to happen. And I barely noticed when it did.
John had been in his studio in the basement messing around with his guitar while waiting for the familiar ding of the clothes dryer. When it sounded, he rested the guitar aside, pulled out the laundry, grabbed the basket of clothes, and marched upstairs. He found me on our beloved red sofa, laptop on my lap, eyes jumping from television to laptop at irregular intervals.
I was online, typing madly, hoping to finish this post before midnight [for no special reason… an arbitrary deadline I imposed upon myself – why do I do that?]. But David Tennant sucked me in. [Sounds dirty but it’s not. Unfortunately.] The Doctor Who marathon stole away any inkling I may have had to track the minutes approaching midnight. Thank you BBC America. Love you!
During one of the commercial breaks, I left John on the sofa to check on the kids. Sound asleep. Warm and cozy. I poured myself a glass of water and noticed the clock.
‘Hey, honey,’ I said to John as I returned to him and The Doctor. ‘It’s 12:02.’
‘Oh.’
A hug and a kiss and back to the Tardis. [Hmm, that rhymes. Consider this my tiny Doctor Who poem.]
And so it was 2016. Woo. Hoo.
Nothing changed. Nothing internal or external. No sense of rebirth… no sudden influx of hope for the future. No miraculous solutions or resolutions to anything. It was Thursday becoming Friday. Just like every other week.
I am a [mostly] rational adult. I knew a waterfall of hope and inspiration and motivation and answers was not going to magically rain down on me. But something did rain down on me. A flood of mistakes. A deluge of bad luck and unfortunate circumstances. Every major crisis currently playing out in my life splashed me in the face. A new year changes nothing.
It’s all on me, I know. Though I try and then try harder, I struggle to be positive [I know, stunning development]. Maybe, despite my seemingly cursed existence, 2016 will be the year of me. Maybe everything will turn around. Isn’t that what I’m supposed to think?
The fucked up thing is… every single damn year, I do start out thinking that! I’m going to kick last year in the ass and move on to a better year. I actually have these thoughts! I am totally, uncharacteristically optimistic! For about 5 minutes.
Really, this year has to be better than the last. But, of course, the truth is… no it doesn’t.
And… my brief connection to hope and optimism is severed. It all turns to shit so fast I miss the transition by blinking. But – I’m supposed to reflect and hope and plan and aspire! Instead, my brain conjures up every past failure, every past disappointment, every past crisis and tragedy, every enormous stroke of bad luck. It reminds me so vividly that I can only fear what fresh hell the New Year will hurl at me this time. I’d better duck.
However.
Before I jinx this New Year, I shall try to think about some goodness from last year. It can’t be all bad. [Wow, look at me being all positive-ish!]
My husband got a [small] raise at work.
My son earned a finalist spot in the whole-school spelling bee. Smarty pants.
My daughter gives me ‘best mom ever’ notes for no reason on random days. Adorable.
My father-in-law generously helped us afford the new roof our house desperately needed.
My mom is finally beginning to understand me better than she has in a very long time.
My hair looks beautiful.
My husband surprised me with a new printer when mine started to fail. [He even did enough research to save $30!]
I started this blog… and I met amazing people because of it. I hope you are all still reading and will continue to visit. It means more to me than I know how to express.
I discovered that I can write poetry. I mean, decent poetry.
I have gotten some wonderful, helpful, lovely feedback on my writing and my psychoses. [Because of all of you amazing people. Thank you, my dears.]
Special thanks to my top 5 commenters (per my Year-in-Blogging):
Lovely Turtle | The Turtle Way and Paul | wwwpalfitness and Wandering Soul and Tiegan | Harbour and Stephanie | stephellaneous
I made some wonderful, understanding, supportive friends through this site. [Thanks for putting up with me turtle!]
My old jeans fit.
Hmm… Look at that! I thought of twelve good things. I didn’t think I’d remember that many. Maybe things are finally looking up. Working on this positivity shit just might help me.
And hey, that new weekly feature is coming soon – the positive thinking one – the one I keep putting off. What is wrong with me that I put off the positive things and obsess over the negative ones? [Kind of a rhetorical question… pretty sure there’s no answer to that.]
I still won’t say “Happy New Year,” though, because I still don’t like the pressure for which it stands. Instead, I’ll just say…
New Year.
xo ♥
what sandra thinks 
The head Dr’s would call that “errors in cognition”. I’m still trying to figure out exactly what that means, but as of this moment, I believe that it means despite evidence of positive events in our lives, we focus only on negative events. And that is the error…. So there’s kinda an answer to your rhetorical question 😜
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Sounds brilliant to me. I must be cognitively impaired. 🙂
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LOL! Aren’t we all!!!!
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Oh, and “New Year to you too!”
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Happy New Year Sandra! I’m glad you decided to write a post! and glad you were able to find so many happy things to write about! 🙂
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atleast in someone’s blog i feature on the top list 😀 i was starting to think i am pathetic at this 😀
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Oh, I am pathetic at it! I can guarantee I’m not on anyone’s list! No matter how hard I try, I just suck at it! I never know what to say… and I hate when I sound all weird and awkward. I am really just not good with people…
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oh, you’re doing fine! *hugs*
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And new year to you too! 🙂
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I hate feeling obligated to start (or stop) something every January first! I guess it’s human nature to fix points in time – even The Doctor would agree with that! Cheers to you for carrying on, finding good things to think about and for keeping us engaged and entertained with your blog. I won’t say Happy New Year, I’ll say happy writing and insightful editing! 🙂 xo
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Thanks and same to you! I think when the motivation and mood strikes to make a change, that’s when it should happen. I’m more likely to stick with something I was ready for, but less likely if I just decided to try it because of the calendar! 🙂
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I was looking forward to this. 💕
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Aww, really? Well, then I’m glad I decided to write it! 🙂 Thank you so much for saying that. It really makes my day! ♥♥
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Definitely. And of course. It’s always an interesting read when you post. 😊
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xo 🙂
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This Turtle is very happy for the mention , and actually blushing now (I’m shy you know , and you are exposing me 😉 )
I am also very happy for your Twelves , although quite envious of one (lifelong battle with my hair to make it look beautiful or what my cognitive diminished mind thinks is beautiful hair 😦 )
Turtle Hugs and Wishes of a Good 2016 🙂
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My hair has never been the way I wanted… too straight, too fine, not enough body, no shape. But somehow, it has improved. It feels great… it looks great. And the color is gorgeous. Perhaps I should post a picture of the back of my head! Haha! xo
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If you’r proud of it , flaunt it 😉
Mine was always too full of body and bounce, wavy and too much of it , my hair stylists always loved it , but I couldn’t do anything of it 😉
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For me, new years are only culminations of what I set in motion the year prior. There is no starting line; that’s silly. The celebratory time does give rise to reflection, but reflection only, not goal setting. I’m glad you were able to list out some good memories rather than focusing on the bad. I’ll do as the Dutch do, and wish you success.
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Thank you and I wish you the same!
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Beautiful post, Sandra! Your positivity shone through and is refreshing for my spirit, which is in great need of positivity about now! So thank you for that, and here’s to you rocking the shit out of 2016!
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I admit I was afraid this post would come out all negative. But I guess trying to think of the good stuff really kind of does help. I know, I was surprised, too. 🙂 haha! Hey, we can rock 2016 together!
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It’s hard to do sometimes, but it does help. I’ll try to muster up some motivation, too! 😀
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I wish I could tell you where I got some but I have no fucking idea!
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I feel so guilty already. Normally I read your posts as soon as they pop up on my reader, but they didn’t.
Thanks for mentioning me! I think you were on of the top commenters on my blog, too. So thank you 🙂
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Aww, it’s okay! Sometimes wp does weird things! 🙂
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For the record I am 100% TEAM TENTH DOCTOR. 🙂 love
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Ooh, me too! I have to admit that I really liked the episodes with the 9th Doctor, too. So maybe 99% 10th. 🙂
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Well, I’m not great at sharing, so it’s just as well you have a 2nd choice lined up. LOL
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