By Jimmy Lee Beason II, Osage Nation
I remember what New Year’s Eve looked like back in my late teens and early twenties, which consisted of a blurry collage of friends, strangers, and awesome keg stands. The alcohol was fuel leading up to contrived celebratory shouts of “Happy New Year!” warm embraces, smiles and in some cases, heaving up all the hops and barley consumed over the course of the night. All of this taking place while Prince’s song 1999 provided the soundtrack in the background.
Then when the calendar inched closer and closer to the year 2000, there was a genuine fear among the populace that society would collapse because the so-called “Y2K” glitch would cause computers to mistake the year 2000 for the year 1900 and wreak havoc on the “system” and suddenly Prince’s song became prophetic.
Two-thousand-zero-zero, party over, oops, out of time…
Ultimately, nothing happened of course despite what Prince said and it’s still a great song! Even if America turned into some tech induced apocalyptic hellscape that evening, I would have more than likely perished in the immediate fallout as our motor function skills were obliterated from “shot gunning” beers and slamming Tequila.
This directionless party atmosphere was typical during those days, and although they could be fun, there was always this voice in the back of my mind that there is a different path to walk. There were times when I would feel totally alone among a backyard full of people while glasses clanged, and the music reverberated through me. Basically, I was walking through the woods with a broken compass and wasn’t too sure where I was going. Eventually, you get tired of going in circles and need to find a better way and this led me to think about purpose and what our purpose is.
Once I quit drinking and started looking at life through a different lens, it became clear that my purpose was tied in with seeking out our traditional values and becoming further immersed in our culture. Little did I know at the time, that this was my resolution I had been making with myself for quite a long time. Except, it took place over several years and not just one.
From a traditional Native perspective (for some of us at least), gestures toward renewal and change typically take place during the spring or early summer, depending on the community. This is when flowers bloom, trees sprout, and the rains nurture the earth. Water truly is life! For my family and I, our new year begins during the summer after we have had our most important ceremony. Then for the fall and winter, we prepare for the upcoming spring and summer. Then we take the spring and summer to prepare for the winter, and the cycle continues over and over. Which reminds me there is a pile of wood I still need to chop so we can have a fire in case winter gets a little too harsh, but I digress.
Once I learned how we should align ourselves with the seasons, in terms of renewal and change, it seems ironic to celebrate the new amidst the dying and decaying of the old in the winter. Regardless, for many people, 2023 is a time where people will celebrate this year with confidently crafted resolutions to lose weight, get more exercise, stop smoking, spend more time with family, get more organized, take that big trip abroad, and try to become a better person overall. However, like the seasons it is a process that takes time. It is gradual and we need to be patient with ourselves. With whatever it is you are doing, it requires time and patience. This can be a difficult thing to accomplish because we live in a world that favors the fastest connection speeds, and immediate satisfaction of on-demand culture.
Because of this we become out of sync and are susceptible to being off balance. If there is one thing I always reiterate, it everything comes down to having balance and being able to make choices with that perspective in mind. Keep the seasons in mind and for this time of year, in the middle of the winter, try to be more like the spring.
Personally, I made no resolutions for this year, nor did we have any New Year’s Eve celebration, other than taking the occasion as an excuse to shoot off some fireworks and eat some homemade sweets courtesy of our daughters – peanut butter chocolates and chocolate coated pretzels! Actually, I do take that back. If there is any resolution I have, it is to spend more time with the family, and appreciate where I am at now in life.
