Reflective Ways to Ring in the New Year
By Dr. Jessica Overgaard, Naturopathic Doctor, Natural Health Center
Someone recently asked me if I have any routines or rituals to end the current year and welcome the new one. Do I eat black eyed peas? Do I stay up late and watch the ball drop in Time Square? Do I sing Auld Lang Syne at midnight? In any given year, I might participate in some combination of these classic traditions, but this year I feel tempted to ring in the New Year in a more reflective way.
While I am anxious to see this year close and I look forward to new beginnings in 2021, I cannot ignore the magnitude of the events of this last year. Nor can I pretend that the last 365 days have not changed the way I will live my life forever.
The unthinkable, the unimaginable, has happened. To start the New Year without first reflecting on the way my life has changed because of the COVID-19 pandemic seems callous and unfeeling. And because I am always encouraging my patients to acknowledge and work through their feelings, I can think of no better way to acknowledge and close this unusual year than by sharing some of my 2020 feelings with you. So, here goes...
I have felt disbelief: Upon learning that a deadly and virulent disease had reached the United States, I felt awestruck. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing and seeing.
I have felt scared: I have a family and dear friends; what would I do if someone I loved became ill or passed away from COVID? What would become of my children should I become ill or die? I have spent several sleepless nights in the last year in an anxious spiral of what ifs.
I have felt joy: Pure, unbridled, and overflowing joy. My son was born in early September and I have never known such instant warmth and knowing; a knowing of my purpose in this world. Not even at the birth of my firstborn did I feel this instant joy (the shock of becoming a parent for the first time perhaps). In a year of uncertainty and insecurity, my son brought me and my family the purest form of hope and joy.
I have felt privileged: Privileged to sleep at night without fear of police knocking down the front door because they have the wrong address. Privileged to walk down the street or through a store without being stopped or scrutinized because of the color of my skin. Privileged to have an education and a career that were only difficult to achieve because of classwork, not because I went to school cold and hungry.
I have felt grateful: Upon reflection of the times that I have felt scared, sad, angry, insecure, and uncertain during this past year, I realize that I feel these things because I have so much to lose. So I am also grateful for my family, friends, coworkers, patients, and community that provide me with such good feelings that the thought of it being disrupted causes uncomfortable feelings. I thank you all.
And with that, I wish you a very happy New Year. We’ve been through a lot this year, but we are so lucky to have each other.
Wishing you peace and joy,
Jessica Overgaard, ND
P.S. Here’s a list of classic New Year traditions in case you need some more light-hearted ideas for celebrating.
https://www.almanac.com/new-years-traditions-around-world