New Year's Eve Melancholy

Can you remember when New Years Day was not a public holiday ?Everyone just got up and carried on with their lives as usual.Much less fuss.

Yes, I agree Jacktadl. Good riddance 2019!!

I always hated New Year's eve since my parents died.
Then last year my son was almost killed in a car accident on NYE.We spent the night in A and E.
Fast forward a year, my son is alive but far from recovered physically and mentally (severe PTSD).
Won't be sorry to see the back of this year.

I no longer stay up till 12 o'clock. I always look forward to the new year, and next year, 2020, promises to be very exciting and interesting. We have freedom to look forward to. Happy New Year everyone. I enjoy your posts.

I find it such a depressing time now that I'm widowed.I used to enjoy it when I was younger.I'll go out somewhere in the daytime so it's not such a long day. If I stay up late I get bored and feel so lonely,if I go to bed early I'm disturbed by fireworks.A couple of years ago some neighbours came out on their garden at 2 am,making a lot of noise and having a barbecue.Oh dear,I've turned into a grumpy old woman.

I love the feeling of tidying up and starting afresh. A new diary and calendar as yet untouched (....apart from a few hospital appointments!) My sister finds it depressing but I've never thought so. 2020 will bring a significant birthday for me so I'm just glad to have (almost) made it!

I’m so sorry it makes you feel sad. It does feel like a landmark in many ways - yet another year gone (esp. when you’re getting on a bit!). but if you can perhaps try to tell yourself that after all, it’s just another day...

I think a lot of people aren’t at all fussed about NYE and feel it’s an awful lot of hype that all too often turns into a bit of a let down. Or a lot of a let down! Plus going out anywhere is usually very expensive and crowded.

Sending all best wishes and ??.
I do hope you’ll feel better once it’s over.

I ate the enforced jollity if it so ignore it completely and go to bed at my normal time of ten pm. I’ve been invited to a New Year’s Day lunch which will be nice , much nicer that NYE !
Self care- do what YOU want to do, not what people expect !

DH and I usually see the New Year in and go to bed when the fireworks finish.
Hasn't been a great year and the future is uncertain.

And a big virtual Hug for Lyndiloo .

Ohhps , Our mindsets ,not are !

I believe It is a bit like a harvest, or even baking a cake, it is a way of looking at what went in , and what has come out , a time for reflection of all things that have passed throughout the year, what could/ should be changed , have we ourselves changed or altered are mindsets if not should we etc etc
A time to remember and be sad, a time to remember and be happy , a breathing space to brace ourselves for the year ahead, best wishes & a hope for Happy (ier ) New Year for all.

I understand your dread about it because there is such a build up of expectations, especially here in Scotland. I stopped going near Edinburgh on Hogmanay when it started to be a tickets only affair. This just emphasises, to my mind, the haves and the have nots.

I hope we'll just chill and be mellow with the aid of some champers (other brands will do) or a wee dram and if we meet anyone today who wants to come over for an hour or two, that's OK as long as they don't stay too late.

For many years I baby-sat various grandchildren on new year's eve so that their parents could go out, but now all my grandchildren are more or less grown up I'm not needed any more. So I now feel redundant. I'll raise a glass and probably stay up for the fireworks.
Let's hope that 2020 is a better year for the world.

Not keen on new year,I will offer to babysit for my GC s but if not will be in bed at ten wishing the spring on its way

Does anyone share my dread of New Year's Eve?
No way! Glad to wake up and find I'm still here!
We get two of them of course; OZ style and then we join in with yours whilst we sip our elevenses in the shade of the "ole lemon tree"
Count your blessings whilst ye may and enjoy!

i like new year's eve. a friend and i get together and have a nice home cooked meal (her house or mine) and we then watch tv and chat until midnight.
we toast the new year and absent friends (my mother died on 1 january) and watch the fireworks on tv.
works for us - and has done for years.

It has always made me feel uneasy. All of that false bonne ami, that borders on hysteria makes me feel uncomfortable and borderline upset. I found it very difficult when I was young since partying is obligatory. Now, thankfully, I mostly treat it like any other day. Netflix makes that easier, but there is still no escape from the fireworks and shouting at midnight!

Thank you gransnetters you’ve all cheered me up. I guiltily felt alone in not liking NYE. Now I feel normal and can sneak off to bed to read about 11 hurrah. And actually I don’t like the idea of it turning to new decade...makes me feel old and much closer to death. 2020 though has a pretty ring but so futuristic. As a teenager I used to write and read science fiction stories and they were always set in the 2020’s!!! And everyone wore silver jump suits and travelled on flying scooters...way to go

I don't enjoy it at all. When we were young we went to all sorts of parties but I was putting on an act. I especially hate people hugging and kissing me! This year I want to stay home with hibs and watch The Crown.

I've never been sure why there's such a fuss about a new year. After all, in reality, it's just going from one day to the next, the only difference being that we're facing a different set of challenges. I think age inevitably makes us wonder what those challenges are likely to be. My husband has Parkinson's disease, and, unless 2020 brings the miracle of a cure, it's sadly inevitable that life will not get easier. We.just have to put our heads down, make the best of it and be grateful for what we do have. Happy New Year to grand everywhere. X

I`m with Absent 100%.
I can`t stand all the bull...t when people wish you a Happy New Year and you know they don`t like you.

I hate New Year. I find it depressing. To me, it’s like getting on the same old dark and dismal treadmill, nothing changed, not much to look forward to.
Conversely, I love springtime. The promise of new beginnings, births, the weather starting to show some brighter days, activity in the garden with lovely flower shoots coming forth and I can feel my mood lifting immensely. I feel excited and reborn. Springtime is my New Year and time to celebrate.

@Lyndiloo & @whywhywhy & am sure others, I am with you all the way on this. I fail to understand why adults make such a fuss about Christmas & New Year, though Christmas is a bit different where young kids are concerned. But New Year & all the “partying” etc., around it is almost purely adult orientated. All I can think is that many fall for the media hype surrounding it, but they don’t stop & think everyone doesn’t appreciate it. A little like religion, I personally am an atheist (grew up Catholic) but don’t bring that up to others, unless asked.

If you think about it logically, so much happens within 1 full year & likely to be a fair amount of sorrow, loss etc., in that. Why would you want to celebrate that & act silly over it. Someone I know said “but it’s to mark ending of one year & start of another”. Yes, it is that, but I mark it by getting & writing in a new diary & remembering to put the next years date in. Just because the media, TV, celebrities or whoever tell you to party etc., for New Year, doesn’t mean as adults you follow it like sheep?

My father died on 30th December (many years ago) and that stopped me wanting to celebrate NYE for a long time.
We do make the effort now and go out for dinner. Some years we have stayed in an hotel and others have been in London restaurants.

We usually have a pleasant evening with a nice dinner and a glass of champagne at midnight ... but it’s not a huge event for us.

2019 has been a challenging year for me, so I am looking forward to raising a glass to 2020.