“5…4…3…” the crowd screams with excitement as the numbers flash across the screen, confetti poppers in hand. Their voice is sore from screaming all day, but still, they look to the person on their left and scream even louder.
“2!” sweat trickles down their neck as people push in from all sides. The air is sticky and every face in the room glistens, but no one complains. They are all too drunk to notice or too excited to care. A popper from the back of the room goes off early, and people laugh as they finish the countdown.
“1! Happy New Year!” Confetti and sparkles flutter through the air as couples around them start kissing. Colors blur their vision as they smile and raise their hands to celebrate. The screens around the room blind their eyes as the bright gold lettering ‘2025’ appears on the screen.
Around them, people hug and smile and celebrate.
Another year has gone by, and a new one is starting.
Earlier their friends were talking about their New Year resolutions - the go-to topic of conversation for this coming week - but during it, they sat back quietly watching as their friends shared how they wanted to travel more, get fit, eat healthier, and be more social. They had to check the time to ensure they had the date right because they had the same conversation a year earlier. A year had gone by and nothing had changed. A year will pass, and what will change?
Their age? Yes, but that dim reality is only something they confront in the late hours after their candles go out.
A new year has started, but in the seconds between then and now, they are still the same sticky, smelly person. And when they meet again in a year, who's to say the person they become won't be a replica of who they are now?
Over the next 365 days, they will travel, grow, laugh, and cry, but the fabric of their being will remain unchanged. The new memories and perspectives will linger in their mind, but is that enough to make them a different person?
They would be unaware if they walked into the bathroom and in front of them was their reflection from a year ago. They might even be unaware if it was them from 10 or 15 years ago. And it is not just the alcohol speaking. They are still who they were 15 years ago; they are still who they were a year ago, just with additional memories.
The only thing they have to judge their reflection on is the reflections they have seen in the past, but who's to say those haven't been a lie? They may still be the small child they were when they first learned to ride a bike.
The seconds tick on and people's celebrations slow, changing from throwing confetti and taking pictures to ordering another drink or continuing their dancing. The celebration of the passing of time is momentarily forgotten.
Someone bumps into them from behind, causing their drink to slosh out of their cup. They don’t even apologize.
But they will never see them again, or maybe they will. Only the cruel, neverending expanse of time will tell. Then again, how would they know? Are they going to ask every person they meet going forward if they are an asshole who bumps into people and doesn’t even offer a courteous ‘sorry’?
Who knows how their life is intertwined with the actions they have made and the people they have been around? Maybe the person they are dancing next to is the same person they served ice cream to at a mall 10 years ago. Or maybe it will be the person they spend the rest of their life with. All of life is connected. The statement causes them to feel relief and immense pressure.
Nothing matters, but everything matters. Nothing changes, but nothing stays the same either. So yes, maybe next year they will be dancing again, feeling the same they do now as they ring in another year, but only time will tell. So they dance as the seconds, minutes, and years pass on.
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