Day 1 - January 1, 2010

"A happy New Year to all the world!" - A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

Today I will play no favorites. I will wish the whole world a "Happy New Year!"

January 1st has the great potential to be a fresh start for all of us. A whole year is in front of us now, and we can choose to do whatever we want with that year. As the book says, though, much will be out of our control. On this day of new beginnings, we should just forget about distinctions and treat everyone as the same. Wish the whole world Happy New Year.

At Christmas, I sent out a mass text, as many others I know did, saying Merry Christmas, with a smiley face to go with it. But when I was sending it, I had to choose exactly who to send it to. Some people I didn't send it to but wanted to, like people that don't text. Some I sent it to because I felt that I should, but didn't really care if I did. Some I wanted to send it to and did. And others I just couldn't decide, so I left it alone. For a few, I didn't know if they celebrated Christmas, so I didn't send it to them, and for one, I didn't want to wish her a happy anything, but I did, because I felt like that would be Christmas spirit at work.

So on New Year's Eve, as I was with friends who I love and care about, the ball dropped and we hugged and kissed and made merry, people started receiving that mass "Happy New Year!" text. I had read the January 1st entry earlier on December 31st, because I figured I would be awake for the beginning of it, and wanted to begin right away. So I decided against the mass text, because I wouldn't have to decide who was special enough to get it, and I wouldn't feel bad that anyone was left out.

I decided to wish EVERYONE a Happy New Year, just by living it. I made no judgments about certain people that I normally would, and I think I started out 2o10 with love for everyone.

The new year marks a new beginning, IF you make it that way. I'm making it that way for me. I started my fresh start by chopping off all of my hair on New Year's Eve. I wanted to start the year new. I knew I wanted a hair cut, but I didn't really want much of a change. Then things happened in my personal life that made me REALLY want a change, so about an hour before I went to get it done, I just decided that I would get rid of it all.

I think, as cliche as it seems, everything bad about 2009 was cut off, and is now in a trash can somewhere. I feel literally AND mentally lighter, like everything sad and troubling, all the bad vibes of the past month and the past year... all of that is gone. I am a new person inside and out.

This project is going to help make sure I grow as a person this year, in the same way my hair will grow back.

Today I played no favorites. I made no enemies. I wished everyone a Happy New Year, even (or maybe especially) people I normally wouldn't have wanted to be so kind to.

Today was the best New Year's Eve I've had in a while. I had fun and I spent it with people I love. The ball dropping usually doesn't feel like much of a change, but this year, I could tell that it was. I can tell that 2010 is the fresh start I've been needing, and I look forward to recording this year of my life with Today I Will.