* New Year’s Day is celebrated as the first day of the year on the Julian and Gregorian calendars. It is the closest thing we have to a worldwide public holiday. What makes you feel connected to the world around you? What connects you to the past, present and future?
* List five endings you will or would celebrate. Choose one and share it with the group. Why is that ending worthy of celebration?
* Read
* What are the New Year’s traditions in your family? Do you stay up all night? Fire guns at midnight? Fireworks? Do you count down with the television?
* There is an old belief that says what you are doing as the clock passes from one year to the other is a symbol for how the new year will go for you. What were you doing last year? What do you want to be doing this year? Does it hold true for you? How so?
* January is named after the Roman god Janus, the god of doors, gates and beginnings. When you picture New Year’s Eve as a door, what does it look like? Does it have glass windows? Is it locked? Is there a doorknob? A door knocker? Is it one of those whooosh doors the supermarket? Talk about the doors you been through and what the doors look like ahead of you.
* Some traditions use New Year’s Eve as a chance to burn the Christmas tree in a type of ceremony as a way to say the old year is gone. How easily do you let go of the past? Do you have any private ceremonies?
* Can you think of a food that symbolizes new beginnings? What does your family eat on New Year’s Eve?
* A common image for New Year’s Day is the image of the old man passing by the baby. (The old year is going out and the new one is coming in.) Get this image in your mind and imagine your old year is on the way out. What advice would Old Year whisper to New Year?
* Millions of people flock to New York City to watch the ball drop on New Year’s Eve. The first ball drop occurred in 1904. To start a race, someone often will fire a starter’s pistol. To begin a life together, a groom will kiss the bride. In Jewish ceremonies, the groom will stomp on a glass. What are the sounds you associate with new beginnings?
* Look at the list below. Rank each item from one to 10 with 10 being incredibly important and one being meh…
The first slice of pizza from the tray.
First one to comment on a website.
First one to “like” someone’s Facebook post.
Seeing a movie on opening night.
First one to know something, such as a secret or news item.
First one to raise your hand when the teacher asks a question.
First one to stick a knife in a new jar of peanut butter.
First one among your circle of friends to complete a video game.
* Can you sing all the words to “Auld Lang Syne”? Most people can’t get past the first two lines.
Should old acquaintance be forgot
And never brought to mind
Should old acquaintance be forgot
In days of Old Lang Syne.
* The song is based on a poem written in 1788. Do you know what Old Lang Syne means?
* The song begins with a question. “Should old acquaintance be forgot?” Should we forget about our old friendships?
* Then comes Auld Lang Syne, which means “old long since.” This is the toast. We raise our glasses to the good times.
* Sometimes you will hear your grandparents or your parents talk about the good old days. To what are they referring? When you think of good times, what comes to mind?
* Read
* What is your own personal secret to leaving the past behind and moving on? See if you can boil that down to one sentence or a couple of words. Write that advice on a piece of paper. Place all the pieces of paper in a hat. On three, throw the paper in the air like confetti. Take whatever piece you get, read it, and put it in your wallet, purse, locker or wherever you can be reminded of it every day.
