New Year, new...

So, it's the day after New Year's Day.

New Year, new start, new life, new routine, new toothbrush etc.

And it is as daft as that.

Everyone seems to make New Year resolutions. I don't. But I do seem to have developed a new year routine of sorts. I think it started after I moved into my house. Since then I have had control over everything within my castle and have exercised that control. And that, for some reason, means that at New Year I enter into extreme nesting mood.

Now, this year was an odd year. With tI have already made mention muchly of my lack of festivity. I won't say festive spirit of itself was entirely devoid - I did listen to the music, wrap the presnets, watch the movies etc. but I had barely a tree. And I know I have covered the reasons behind this already so I will not start the new year by retreading old ground.

But, the lack of tree and - finally - absolutely completing the bathroom, enabled me to be tidy for the first time in months. The scaffolding for the roof was gone, the mess was gone, the bathroom was finally all tiled and tidied and could therefore be given a final clean and tidy; along with the entire house.

And so it is that it started - the entire house had to be cleaned, the bathroom given the deepest scrub it could be given, even weeding had to be done. It even extended to me clearing out my lists, checking everything off, uploading everything that I could into albums, and all before the clocks struck midnight on New Year's Eve. Despite resolutely never making new year resolutions I seem to have fallen into a new year tradition. Or, more particularly, a pre-new year tradition.

For some reason.

Why do we attach such ridiculous emotive attachement and expectation to what is, in reality, just another day in the calendar? Yes, it may be the first day in the calendar, but why should that make it all the more special? We do the same with Christmas. Ignore any religious sentiment behind Christmas - it was long a celebration of mid-winter before religion hijacked it; and as religion loses its social significance it is returning to a celebration of that which we have: though these days it is money rather than mere sustenence.

Yet we spend all that money on celebrating a nothingness. The day has no significance for us than that which we give it ourselves. I watched a particularly rubbish 'festive' one-off comedy, where one of the characters was obsessed by her 'family traditions'. But these were merely gathered routines with associations - she attached nothing of significance to any of the other activities which she did on a regular basis but were so fripperous to attach any significance to - they simply did not become 'traditions'.

And it is the same with New Year. I spent a dreadful amount of time on New Year's Eve cleaning, tidying, even throwing things out that I will never use to ensure that as the clock struck twelve my bathroom needed not a touch, my lounge was spotless, even all the washing had been done and put away.

New year, new start.

And yes, new toothbrush. New razor (though that happens at the first of every month anyway). New mayonnaise, new soap, new deodorant, new toothpaste, new all sorts of everything. And I thought that each and every time. And routines as well as things. New year, new routine. So I'm washing up every night rather than a couple of times a week; and a number of other such things.

So I myself have started attaching significance to the day other than simply the bank holiday which it should have become.

But it is good. Because otherwise we shall drift through life attaching significance to nothing. If we can't attach significance to insignificance - the mere change of a calendar - what can we attach significance to? The only other things are very personal to ourselves, like birthdays, to which others attach practically nothing. We just plod along from day to day to day for nothing. The only plans we would make would be mundane or in extremis. The New Year is just the jolt that most of us need to restart our lives. If it wasn't for that, then when would we make the plans to change jobs, move house, decorate the kitchen, start a diet, be more healthy, stop smoking, learn a new language or such like?

I realise that I am the ultimate dichotomy for a number of reasons, but mostly because my love of the regular, of the routine, doesn't affect my adoption of change. And for exemple of new year new start, and my love of the routine, one of the bars I used to go to on a regular basis has closed. On various nights I used to go to one, few, many or all of some four pubs: Central, Jaceys, the Mill, and AD2. And last night the last of those closed. They are gone. And I don't know if it is a good thing or a bad thing. At one stage each of them were the life of the party; and yet, by the end they were each scraping their arses on the ground to find a penny. And yet, just down the road is the Trip to Jerusalem, a pub which has existed since 1189. There is a stage at which a bar can make an income purely from its tradition, but until then it needs to innovate to compete.

But, if it means that things get done, that life progresses, then why not?