Aga Artka Interior Design, LLC

"Lucky" New Year!!!

January 2nd, 2009 8:23 pm

3…2…1…Happy New Year!!!! We are all familiar with that process. In Poland, about 6 hours ahead of us, everyone screamed “Szczesliwego Nowego Roku” and a series of fireworks appeared in the sky. I was brought up in a belief that you have to say good-bye to the old year and welcome the new year with a pump and charisma, otherwise….it’s bad luck(?) I can’t stop wondering – if I sleep through the New Year’s countdown (and I did), is there nothing to wake up for? will the universe turn against me and send nothing but worries and troubles my way?

I couldn’t stay up to celebrate New Year this year. Having just come back from a long trip overseas, my inner clock has disregulated itself to a point where my old bedtime routine is not normal anymore. I am wide awake at 3am but would gladly take a long nap at mid day. I don’t like fighting my natural need to sleep…
even on New Year’s eve. Does that make me a bad person and therefore unlucky citizen of this stereotypical world?

In the south, it is believed that eating black eyed pea’s on New Year’s eve will bring good luck for the upcoming year. Likewise, German folklore says that eating a stroke of herring at the stroke of midnight will make you lucky in the new year. It is a Cuban tradition to eat 12 grapes right at midnight which are to signify the last 12 months in a year. Eating noodles at midnight is customary to Buddhists in Japan. In the Philippines, they serve 7 different types of round fruits. The round shape of the fruits signify money and seven is believed to be a lucky number. Set on the dinner table on New Year’s eve, the fruits are believed to bring prosperity and sound financial status for the coming year. That’s all very interesting but what if I don’t like herring or black eyed peas; what if I’m not a fan of fruits or noodles. Am I instantly out of luck? As much as I understand the value of tradition, some of these customs lack sense and further reasoning to me.

The New Year is a new beginning. By many it is believed to be a start of something better and bigger, it is when we enter a new chapter of our lives and leave the old behind. True – having said which, how much of this depends on whether I bite into a stroke of herring on New Year’s eve (yuck), or eat 12 grapes? I tend to believe that unless we act on our ideas, wishes, desires, they won’t just happen for us. Despite the popular believe in the power of universe, I still am convinced of a personal responsibility for our lives. Andy Warhol once said: “They say that time changes things, but you have to change them yourself”.

I don’t feel any less fortunate because I didn’t drink champagne on New Year’s night, stuck around to watch fireworks or eat pickled fish. I actually am grateful for not having have to deal with a headache, upset stomache or tiredness. I have started my year organizing and planning my future. Is that in any way lucky?