Happy New Year! I hope that everyone had a restful holiday season and the happiest of new year celebrations. Whether that was lounging on the couch watching a grainy little ball drop (as mine usually are), partying till sunrise, or going to bed early and forgetting it was even new year’s eve, I hope this year was the best one yet! And P.S. if it isn’t, that’s okay too. Sometimes there is too much pressure put on the year turning out vastly different than the one prior. 

Speaking of the new year…I wanted this post to focus on my thoughts on New Year’s resolutions and the individuality of it all. I read this piece in The New York Times and it really stuck out to me, especially after spending some time in Europe over the holidays. Being surrounded by such a collectivist, “we’re all in this together,” socialist mindset is always so trippy in comparison to our self-obsessed, consumerist, faux-progressive personas we take on in this country. And that’s really embodied in the way we talk about resolutions: “I want to work out, I want to quit smoking, I want to stop drinking.”

And so this op-ed hit home for a few reasons. One, because I’m too often surrounded by talk of philanthropy in my job, and I understand that individual giving has declined substantially, even within the last few years. People, especially the younger generation, lose trust in where their money is going, how it’s being spent, etc. And don’t get me wrong: I can understand why this is, because it is freaking. Expensive. Out there. It makes sense to me that you’d want your money to be in your control and your control only rather than in the hands of someone else.

But I’ve really gotten to thinking…because of this me me me culture we are surrounded by, so much of our money gets spent on useless things. Trust me, I fall victim to little treat syndrome as well. “I got through this week, so I deserve a little treat.” And so often you do deserve a little treat! Go crazy!

But what about the people who got through the week and don’t have that option? How much of a difference could you make, then, if you just set aside a small portion of your paycheck each month to go to a charitable cause or to someone living without a home, taking care of a family?

Living by the golden rule is simply not built into an American’s core belief system. So what if this year, we seek to change that. What if this year, we escape the confines of our own self image and look towards branching out and helping those around us — especially when you have the means. 

What if this year, you make one of your New Year’s resolutions about someone or something bigger than yourself?

I want to be very clear, as a chronic people pleaser, that this does not mean abandoning who you are or what you stand for. By all means, hit the gym, drop that cigarette, stay in instead of going out. The truth being that you can still hold space for yourself without compromising your love for other people. 

I watched Interstellar on the plane ride home (and again this weekend, lol great movie), and even if (spoiler) Matt Damon was a lying bastard in that movie, he said something that really stuck out to me, and that was that humans have failed to evolve past caring about someone other than ourselves or our loved ones — those in our closest circles. 

And so this year, I’m going to do everything in my power to prove Matt Damon wrong. 

Happy New Year to all!