I love the new year. It is a time for a fresh start, a new beginning, letting go of last year’s bad ju-ju— insert your own cliche here. I am not a person who is big with making resolutions or significant sweeping promises to declare that “this year things are going to be different.” I am far too much of a pragmatist for that. In many ways, I feel that time is somewhat of a social construct to create order, rituals, and routines in our daily life. Step away from the calendar far enough, and you see that life ebbs and flows on its own timetable, and, speaking for myself, I tend to embrace the seasons of life, not just one particular day.

After all, did you really feel any different on December 31 than you did on January 1? I know I didn’t.