Start as we mean to go on!

Once again Happy New Year! I can really say that now as I’ve arrived in 2011! Twenty-eleven or Two-thousand-and-eleven… I wonder which is the ‘proper’ way to say it? I must admit I’ll use either…

Last night’s celebrations were a bit …odd. I went out to my regular haunt which was busier than usual. That was odd for a start, but it was New Year’s Eve! As I approached the door, the supervisor came over to me and shook my hand. I wished him a happy new year, but then added ‘for later’ as it wasn’t new year yet. This was before I had even stepped foot in the place, and just outside the door I met a friend who I haven’t seen for about a hundred years. She said “Hi”, as did I, and then she said that I looked different. I said I’m older and she said “Don’t be daft, of course you’re not!” As complimentary lies go, somehow this one doesn’t work. Still, it gave me a nice smile for the first part of the evening.

I like being by myself. I may look sad (and some people do say that to me from time to time, including last night) but I’m not. I can do my own thing, which I think everyone really wants to do. At times, I wish there was someone who could experience the same thing at the same time as me and with me, but I know that when something of great meaning happens there is someone there sharing it with me anyway. I’ve always been introverted with an extrovert’s edge. I love my own company, and most of the time prefer my own company, but also enjoy the company of others. I’m described as ‘shy’, which I’m not, but it is easy to go along with.

A girl said to me last night “Are you here, all alone on New Year’s Eve? That’s so sad” I never had chance to say to her that I was fine as she was busy trying to haggle a deal with the manager, so to her I was a sad man sitting in a corner all alone. I don’t mind being judged, but it proves that what we think and what we see really are two completely different things.

The night quietly progressed after that. Midnight came and went. Literally. No paraphernalia, no brass bands and trombones, no ten minute shut down, and no countdown. A quick ding dong ding dong during a piece of music and that was it. Blink and you’d have missed it. I loved it! I laughed. No fuss. A good theme for this year, I think…

I gave away several hugs just into the new year, but only to people who I wanted to give them to. Luckily, they all gave one back, so it was really nice. After all of the hugging I decided that I wanted to eat, so came home.

What did I learn? The older we get, the more we appreciate the simpler things. Only I never get older – that must be the vampire in me!

What did I see? Myself through the eyes of others. But should I change myself for what I think other people want to see?

What was new? Everything! A new year, a new start.