Happy ‘New You’, everybody

I'm not pretending to know what that means. It's only my comforting New Year message to those who think that they haven't gone anywhere in 2015. You have been travelling a lot, and at a speed nobody can really comprehend. It's also my message to those who assume that "nothing's changed". Well, a lot have changed, even though you feel very solidly relative to the ground and nothing moves around you. We are so far away from where we used to be, a second ago. You go back to read the first paragraph now and you will have travelled a distance that can cover a few journeys around the earth.

Scientists say we are living in a super, super slow-motion. We are like ants on a roller-coaster in full swing, oblivious to its dizzying speed and screams of excitement of its human riders. Either we are so small and insignificant, or we were made to be this tiny on purpose. I mean, if we were big enough to feel all the breakneck speeds, we wouldn't be able to think, would we? On a roller coaster, do we think "Millions are starving in Africa, so I'll devote myself to changing that" or "No. Holy crap. No, not again. No, no, no."?

I'm not going down that spiritual or religious road, however. To me, New Year is about fun, drinking, partying and getting or giving gifts. It makes me wonder, though. Why are people in such generous, forgiving moods during this festivity?  If it's really good to forgive, why can't we do it all year long? If it's good to give or to share, why don't we make it a life, not seasonal, habit? Is the New Year, or other festivities for that matter, a time when we simply celebrate the biggest human flaw _ our inability to constantly do something good?

Some say being good, generous or noble all the time can weaken the species. Don't laugh. This school of thought has its point. Living in a perfect world can actually harm evolution, goes the theory. We need adversity so that we can add to our strength and survival ability. Simply put, too much giving, sharing and forgiving can spoil everything and our species as a whole will suffer in the long run.

Despite some skepticism, I understand many parts of this theory. Most of all, if the whole year is about 365 days of festivities, the fun will give way to boredom. If the bosses smiled every time they saw us or took karaoke microphones every day, we would surely come up with "special occasions" where they bark at us the whole day so we can feel revitalised. If we had to exchange gifts everyday of the year, we certainly would invent a "back-stabbing" festival or something like that.

All in all, the New Year is great. I can do without the songs, though. Why is it that songs about love, lies, betrayal and all can have different, ever-changing melodies but festival songs can't? You may say that the same old tunes characterise each festivity, giving it some sort of identity and in the process reminding us that it's time to be happy, but still. Why a "new" year but an "old" song?

Every New Year gets old, so an old song to greet a New Year may be philosophically appropriate. What is "new" and what is "old" anyway? One second into January 1 and the "new" year starts to get "old", if we really think about it. What is truly and constantly "new" is us. Every second places us at a "new" spot in the universe. Everything we learn, read, watch and experience makes us a "new" person. The process may be slow, taking place in a super slow-motion, but we are getting "newer" continuously all the same.

If you are reading this, here are my sincerest thanks and best wishes. Every single reader, whether reading to agree or disagree, is important, as all writers will say. For you to find time to read this amid what must be a hectic work-clearing schedule is something I appreciate very much. May everyone of you have great health, happiness and success through the next round of our journey around the sun, at more than 100,000 kilometres per hour. Happy New Year, everybody.