I watched the ball drop last night on television and then went to sleep. I felt absolutely little connection to the hoopla that was going on only about 7 miles from me in Times Square, which was strange in that I could barely feel the immense human energy and excitement emerging from the tube.
It’s not that I’m cynical or skeptical about New Year’s or that I have bad feelings about it. Afterall, I met my wife on New Year’s a number of years ago. But in listening to the fireworks going on overhead and the shouts of men beneath the window, I couldn’t figure out where the celebration was coming from. Were people happy to be alive another year? Were they simply drunk and happy? Or does the new year mark a happy moment for people who are ordinarily pretty happy?
Happy new year!