For many years in a row I spent the New Year’s Eve travelling to other countries. I have this personal superstition that if during the night between the years I am in another country with a rucksack on my back then I will be travelling the whole year. It has worked so far. On the street with the rucksack on my back in cities such as Paris, London, Vienna, Barcelona, Istanbul or even Bucharest, I took care to dress a bit differently, in such a way as to mark the occasion.
Of course, it is a night like any other; but even so it is also different. I believe that it is an evening for which we should prepare ourselves even if we stay at home alone. I am not saying that we should spend a fortune on looking good; and I am not saying to prepare for a meeting with other people – but rather to prepare ourselves for a celebration. The decision to prepare or not could make those moments more beautiful, take them out of the ordinary or trivialize them.
Even if we stay at home, alone, we can prepare some movies that we enjoy, a different set of pajamas, a glass of French champagne – so that we will not let ourselves fall, creating memorable moments with or without others around us.
As someone who has spent a lot of New Years’ alone, I can say that the way we take care of ourselves is essential. It is as if we are the puppet master of our own being – we can decide to pull the strings, to make it dance, to make it active or to leave it on the ground abandoned. To be your own puppet master means to deliberately take the strings from ‘another’s’ hand who until now has moved the being of light within us in a chaotic and destructive way.
I let go of the strings a long time ago, when I broke up, for two years – during the Holidays I had a fever so bad that I could not get out of bed. The state of abandonment of one’s own being can do us a lot harm.
I know it is difficult, and I know that it often seems impossible; however, until we can get up on our feet, until we take the strings from the master, until we give ourselves a metaphorical slap on the face, until we stand up straight with our shoulders back, we will not be able to see the sun on our street. And if that means even preparing for the Holidays then let’s do it!