Frankie: "Le' me assk' you somethin'"
I cringe, she knows I hate when she talks like that. I turn in my chair and give her 'the look'. She grins, and a crumb of blueberry pudding cake falls from her lower lip.
Me: "What?"
Frankie: "You gonna' make any resolutions for the new year?"
Me: "No, don't believe in that, nobody ever keeps theirs anyway. So, why bother. I don't think most people remember what their great objectives were by the end of January. Take off weight, quit smoking, drinking, start exercising.... blah, blah, blah.....pllllease."
Frankie: "Then, why is it such a big deal at the end of the year and the beginning of the new year for people to want to make them and who made the very first one?"
Oh dear, I feel some research coming on. Frankie brings my vanity chair into the office and plunks down beside me at the computer. Here's what we learned.
The History of New Years Resolutions
By Gary Ryan Blair
With two faces, Janus could look back on past events and forward to the future. Janus became the ancient symbol for resolutions and many Romans looked for forgiveness from their enemies and also exchanged gifts before the beginning of each year.
The New Year has not always begun on January 1, and it doesn't begin on that date everywhere today. It begins on that date only for cultures that use a 365-day solar calendar. January 1 became the beginning of the New Year in 46 B.C., when Julius Caesar developed a calendar that would more accurately reflect the seasons than previous calendars had.
The Romans named the first month of the year after Janus, the god of beginnings and the guardian of doors and entrances. He was always depicted with two faces, one on the front of his head and one on the back. Thus he could look backward and forward at the same time. At midnight on December 31, the Romans imagined Janus looking back at the old year and forward to the new...
...although the date for New Year's Day is not the same in every culture, it is always a time for celebration and for customs to ensure good luck in the coming year."
Religious origins Wikipedia
"The ancient Babylonians made promises to their gods at the start of each year that they would return borrowed objects and pay their debts.
The Romans began each year by making promises to the god Janus, for whom the month of January is named.
In the Medieval era, the knights took the "peacock vow" at the end of the Christmas season each year to re-affirm their commitment to chivalry.
At watchnight services, many Christians prepare for the year ahead by praying and making these resolutions.
There are other religious parallels to this tradition. During Judaism's New Year, Rosh Hashanah, through the High Holidays and culminating in Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement), one is to reflect upon one's wrongdoings over the year and both seek and offer forgiveness.
People may act similarly during the Catholic fasting period of Lent, though the motive behind this holiday is more of sacrifice than of responsibility, in fact the practice of New Year's resolutions partially came from the Lenten sacrifices.The concept, regardless of creed, is to reflect upon self-improvement annually."
Mat-Su Valley
Frontiersman
The New Year has not always begun on January 1, and it doesn't begin on that date everywhere today. It begins on that date only for cultures that use a 365-day solar calendar. January 1 became the beginning of the New Year in 46 B.C., when Julius Caesar developed a calendar that would more accurately reflect the seasons than previous calendars had.
The Romans named the first month of the year after Janus, the god of beginnings and the guardian of doors and entrances. He was always depicted with two faces, one on the front of his head and one on the back. Thus he could look backward and forward at the same time. At midnight on December 31, the Romans imagined Janus looking back at the old year and forward to the new...
...although the date for New Year's Day is not the same in every culture, it is always a time for celebration and for customs to ensure good luck in the coming year."
Religious origins Wikipedia
"The ancient Babylonians made promises to their gods at the start of each year that they would return borrowed objects and pay their debts.
The Romans began each year by making promises to the god Janus, for whom the month of January is named.
In the Medieval era, the knights took the "peacock vow" at the end of the Christmas season each year to re-affirm their commitment to chivalry.
At watchnight services, many Christians prepare for the year ahead by praying and making these resolutions.
There are other religious parallels to this tradition. During Judaism's New Year, Rosh Hashanah, through the High Holidays and culminating in Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement), one is to reflect upon one's wrongdoings over the year and both seek and offer forgiveness.
People may act similarly during the Catholic fasting period of Lent, though the motive behind this holiday is more of sacrifice than of responsibility, in fact the practice of New Year's resolutions partially came from the Lenten sacrifices.The concept, regardless of creed, is to reflect upon self-improvement annually."
Mat-Su Valley
Frontiersman
"Go back 3,500 years and at the start of a new year you might find a Babylonian promising to his god Anu that he’d return borrowed fruit and grain to the generous Mesopotamian farmer who loaned him the sustenance during the growing season. Or, 2,000 years ago you might find a Roman promising to be a better citizen in the coming year. She likely prayed to the god Janus, for whom our calendar’s first month is named, to ensure her new year would be remarkable. She might have made the prayer to Janus in his role as the Patron of Bridges while she stared at his double-faced sculpture, one face peering into the past and the other to the future.
In the first half of the 18th Century you might find America’s original philosophical theologian Jonathan Edwards writing detailed, comprehensive resolutions over the course of two to three years in New England Puritan communities encouraging self-improvement and renewed faith.
There’s actually a world history of civilizations defining and committing to good intentions at the end of each year, generation after generation."
And, there you have it, three different views of how resolutions came into being. I guess they are not a bad thing, it's just (I think) we don't take them as seriously as we might considering their origins. I don't know about you, but I think I'm actually considering about making one...just one...this year. And, that's that I might become a better person. I can't change the world, but I just might be able to change myself.
Thank you, Gary Ryan Blair, Wikipedia and Tom Anderson for your research, and making my research so easy.
There’s actually a world history of civilizations defining and committing to good intentions at the end of each year, generation after generation."
And, there you have it, three different views of how resolutions came into being. I guess they are not a bad thing, it's just (I think) we don't take them as seriously as we might considering their origins. I don't know about you, but I think I'm actually considering about making one...just one...this year. And, that's that I might become a better person. I can't change the world, but I just might be able to change myself.
Thank you, Gary Ryan Blair, Wikipedia and Tom Anderson for your research, and making my research so easy.
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