Overflowing with laughter and good company, Christmas and New Year’s gives us all time to make wonderful memories with those closest to us. I hope you had delightful moments with your family and friends during the holiday season.
In 2018, I hope to continue sharing beautiful moments with you all. A year’s close brings reflection, excitement, and hope for what’s to come. Do you make New Year’s resolutions? I don’t like to call them resolutions, but rather things that need my attention. But where did the resolution tradition come from? According to HISTORY, the ancient Babylonians are credited as being the first to make New Year’s resolutions 4,000 years ago. However, instead of being celebrated in January, New Year’s festivities took place in mid-March.
During this time, the Babylonians named a new king or kept their reigning monarch. Additionally, they promised the gods they would pay their debts and return any objects they had borrowed. We identify these promises as the closest match to what we know as New Year’s resolutions today. If the Babylonians made good on their promises, the gods would grant them good fortune. And if not, they did not have the favor of the gods.
In ancient Rome, Julius Caesar declared January 1 as the beginning of the New Year. The month of January was named after Janus, the two-faced god whose spirit inhabited doorways and arches. The Romans believed Janus looked backwards into the previous year and ahead into the future so they offered sacrifices and made promises of good behavior for the year to come.
Whether you make New Year’s resolutions or not, the arrival of a New Year signals new beginnings and a time of change. I wish you all the best in 2018! May your year be filled with happiness, joy, and good fortune.