It’s getting to that point in the year. Now that Christmas is over, we’re into that period of self-reflection and regret for our Christmas indulgences; the period that makes people think about who they’ve been and who they want to be now that the New Year is upon us. And so the dreaded saying resurfaces: “New year, new me.” “New year, new me” is a sentiment that people express which basically means that with the arrival of a new year comes a better person, someone who will start anew or begin with a fresh slate, someone who feels they want to improve themselves. With a new year comes the possibility to change yourself, to refrain from all of the bad things you’ve previously done. But is this really a good sentiment to express? Let’s use 2016 as an example. This year, we lost Alan Rickman, Gene Wilder, Alan Thicke, Christina Grimmie, Prince, both Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds right around Christmas, David Bowie, and countless more. We also had all that Brexit nonsense happen in England, as well as Donald Trump being elected as US President, both of which have been interpreted in mainstream media as bad occurrences. And let’s not forget what’s happened in Berlin, Paris, and Syria. Oh, and did I forget to mention what happened with Ke$ha and Brock Turner? These are all widespread detrimental events that have caused multiple memes about the awfulness of 2016 to come to light. But 2016 wasn’t entirely horrible. What about Beyonce’s kick-ass visual album, “Lemonade,” with some positive messages for young women. We’re forgetting that we had a female candidate for US President for the first time. We’re forgetting that Leonardo DiCaprio finally won an Oscar! We’re not only ignoring all of the great stuff that happened, but we’re also leaving out the good stuff that’s come out of these negative occurrences. The whole Brock Turner as well as Ke$ha situations, each in themselves, made for more open dialogue and discussion about sexual assault. The various terrorist attacks, as terrible as they were, resulted in unparalleled worldwide solidarity and support through social media and other mediums. So let’s bring this back to the whole “New year, new me” saying. When saying “New year, new me,” usually what happened in the year before gets left behind. If you weren’t as active the previous year, it’s natural to make the resolution to go to the gym more often. If you didn’t eat as well as you thought you should, it’s natural to decide to cut junk food out of your life or go on a diet. If you found yourself getting screwed over in relationships a lot, it’s okay to decide to refrain from guys for a while. It’s okay to say “New year, new me” and leave your bad experiences behind, which is what everyone wants to do with 2016. But it’s important to realize the significance of what you’re leaving behind. Like 2016, something good must have come from those crummy experiences. You may not have been as active as you wanted, but maybe you were able to do other worthy things with your time, like care for a friend or focus on your studies. Maybe you didn’t eat as well as you wanted. But didn’t you enjoy the sh*t out of that burger? You tasted greatness, and you let yourself appreciate that. So you may have had a bad relationship or two. But maybe you learned some red flags (a.k.a. telltale signs for troublesome partners) for future reference, or maybe you’ve learned just how strong you can be from dealing with and getting through your situation. You can’t beat yourself up for doing something that may have made you happy at the time or given you more knowledge about life and more insight about yourself. So how can we say “New year, new me” without passing over the good that came from the bad? It seems as though 2016 was a sh*t year, globally-speaking. But you are not 2016. 2016 can say, “New year, new me” and actually mean it because it’ll be 2017. As for you, you need to find something that will let you take the old and improve on it in the new, something that will allow you to take everything good from this year and take it into the new year.
“New year, improved me” doesn’t quite roll of the tongue. Unless there’s something that starts with “n” or rhymes with “new” that I’m not thinking of, personally, I’m at a bit of a loss for what to say instead. I guess that as long as you’re building on the blocks you’ve created for yourself in the last twelve months and not attempting to erase it, and you know that this is what you mean when you say “New year, new me”—well, I guess that’s all you can ask for. And honestly, next year can only go up from here, right?