Celebrating The End of A Year…

By December 31, many of us have been spending roughly a month experiencing the holiday season. Have you noticed how much celebrating has been happening? Work parties, school parties, social events, family gatherings…as the number of hours of daily sunlight have dwindled to roughly 63% of what we were receiving in June, we find ourselves spending more hours (and money!) planning for, partaking in, and recovering from festivities. Coincidence?

Since ancient times, people around the world have celebrated the significance of the concomitant Winter Solstice and end of harvest. Many celebrations fell along the line of either imploring the sun (and thus the potential for harvest) to return or celebrating the return of the sun. Examples of this include Feast of Juul in Scandanavia, Saturnalia in Ancient Rome, Dongzhi festival in China, Yalda in Iran, and the Soyal ceremony of the Hopis. The old Slavic festival of Korochun takes a slightly darker view of things by recognizing that the shortest day of the year is the day that the Black God and other evil spirits are the strongest (and consequently after it passes, this influence recedes as the Sun God is reborn) and thus it was a time for reflection, feasting, and honoring ancestors. But most of us do not even think of these but think of the currently dominant Judeo-Christian holidays of Hannukah and Christmas, as well as Thanksgiving, which marks the “start” of the holiday frenetics.

So what does the darkest day of the year have to do with Hannukah-which celebrates the victory of a relatively small group of oppressed Jews against a powerful army and the subsequent rededication of the Holy Temple of Jerusalem (and miraculous 8-day burning of the menorah on minimal oil), or with Christmas- which celebrates the birthday of Jesus Christ, who Christians believe is the son of God? Since Jews traditionally follow a lunar, rather than solar calendar (which is why Hannukah falls on different days from year to year) there does not appear to be a direct tie to the solstice, and yet many sources say that the occurrence of Hannukah near the winter solstice is no accident. This makes sense if one considers that a holiday which celebrates literally and metaphorically a victory of light over dark, would be most significant during the darkest days of the year. The history of Christmas and its celebration a few days after the solstice is murkier still: there is some belief that the first Christian Roman emperors superimposed Christmas on top of the pagan holiday of Saturnalia, but there is evidence that there was a lot of push-back against Christianity during this time. Another thought is that the celebration of the birthday of Sol Invictus (the Unconquerable Sun God; literal light over dark) which was adopted during this time period on December 25, was the natural segue to transition toward the celebration of Christmas (metaphorical light over dark). Either way, the selection of the timing of Christmas is less about the actual date of Jesus’ birth than taking advantage of a time when people were already in the habit of celebrating.

Since then, we have seen other holidays spring up around Christmas. Among these in the U.S.: Kwanzaa, which celebrates African-American heritage and is a response to the modern commercialization (more on that) of Christmas, and Newtonmas (yes! In honor of Sir Isaac Newton), which provides a holiday for skeptics-nonbelievers. And of course the upcoming New Year’s Eve, which has become something of a mandatory drunken orgy for many. But let’s get to the heart of this rambling post: Since an increasing number of us think/care less about the historical and spiritual significance of the festivities and are more about the festivities themselves- why do we keep needing more celebrations? That’s not an entirely straightforward question to answer, as the answers will be more individual, but it is a question worth contemplating.

Obviously socializing, eating, drinking, and shopping are enjoyable activities for many, so any reason to do so is a good thing. But the fact that this happens most during the darkest days of the year is not completely random: it is well-known that harsher weather and less natural light have an effect on people’s well-being. This is to say that in this time of year, more than ever, people need to feel good. It is also true that each holiday or celebration brings a mini let-down. If it was pure euphoria, the next day is bound to feel a tad nostalgic and flat; if it didn’t live up to (often unrealistic) expectations then the crash is likely to be greater. Psychologists understand that celebrating stimulates the ‘reward’ centers in our brain (and savvy employers use it to their advantage when building a workplace community), which creates a pathway that seeks to be reactivated. In other words, pleasurable experiences drive you to seek more of the same, which when taken to an unfortunate extreme, leads to compulsive behaviors. Interestingly, scientists have also found that UV light (which is at an all-time low during the winter solstice and is sub-optimal during the months buffering it) activates the reward/dopaminergic pathway in the brain, which provides additional psychological, as opposed to the practical, motivation behind all the holidays and festivities in the winter.

Another interesting thing to contemplate is that the darkest days coincide with the end of the year. Many of us take advantage of the coming of a new year to make resolutions/start fresh, and even if we don’t we can’t help but reflect upon the year as it draws to a close. Honest reflection can be something that is not comfortable or easy for many people. Often, things don’t go our way, and we either don’t understand why or we blame ourselves. Often, we fail to live up to our expectations for ourselves. But again, if we are going to honestly reflect- what were our expectations based on? Were they based on a version of ourselves rooted in comparison with others, or were they based on steps taken toward becoming a better version of ourselves? Sometimes it is hard to accept that each one of us is a very different person. It is easier and preferable to keep ourselves busy…preoccupied…intoxicated. But this approach, which denies serious reflection will end either on January 1, or on the date that we “fail” at our resolutions, or on whatever day we get one too many quiet moments to think about these things.

I invite you, if you do not already, to re-interject spirituality into your year-end celebrations. I direct this to you who are religious as well as to you who are secular, as spirituality and religion are NOT the same things. See the following:

Spirituality invites you to connect with your purpose, with your true self, and with others; it demands mindfulness and presence NOT escape. It keeps you grounded when things around you and in your life are flying high, and it gives you a lift when everything seems to be crashing down. But be advised- it is not something that brings you instant bliss/peace, but something which takes constant! vigilance! as Mad-Eye Moody was purported to have said. Have your celebrations, but take a moment before to think about what you want and how that will help you feel more connected and in-line with what is important to you. Allow yourself to be fully present, making the best of each moment. And afterward, take a moment of gratitude (as opposed to regret, either over what happened/didn’t happen or over the fact that it is over) for being able to live the experience. Wishing you peace and love for the remainder of 2019!