Before welcoming 2013, let’s rewind a couple thousand years to find out how one of the most famous New Year’s Eve traditions came to be. More specifically, how the New Year’s Eve kiss came to be. Historians date this legendary kiss back to the Ancient Romans who would commemorate the festival of Saturnalia by exchanging celebratory kisses. Later on, the English and Germans would celebrate when the clock struck midnight by kissing the first person they met, and this encounter was supposed to set the tone for the rest of the year. For many Europeans it is also tradition to hold masked balls on New Year’s Eve. The masks would symbolize evil spirits, and taking off the masks and kissing was supposed to be an act of purification. In the media, the midnight kiss has come to be associated with superstition. For those in a relationship, there is the superstition that kissing at midnight is supposed to strengthen the bonds between you and your partner for the rest of the year. For those who are single, there is the superstition that not kissing anyone predicts that you will be single for the rest of the year.
What does the midnight kiss symbolize today? Apparently a lot. When I set out to research the idea of the New Year’s Eve kiss, I came across numerous articles outlining how single girls can secure a midnight kiss at the last minute, why not having a midnight kiss sucks and even a guide to giving the perfect midnight kiss (seriously, it gave instructions on which way to tilt your head and even on varying lip pressure). The further I delved into the journalistic world of the midnight kiss, the more I felt compelled to compose an open letter to all the people worrying about who they’re going to lock lips with on New Year’s Eve. Here it is:
Dear HerCampus Readers,
If you have someone special that you intend to kiss at midnight on December 31st, that’s awesome! I think it’s a really sweet tradition, and an amazing way to start out the New Year.
To those who of you who do not have someone to kiss, and are stressed that this fact is going to make or break not only your New Year’s Eve, but your whole year, this blog is for you. And I have something I’d like to tell you: Please, please, please stop stressing! Why? Well, call me a revolutionary thinker, but I’m going to suggest that having no one to kiss on New Year’s Eve is just not important.
Firstly, I will admit that I have had a ‘perfect’ New Years’ Eve kiss. I was at a musty bar, wearing a nice dress, and there was free champagne in plastic glasses being passed out. Friends were all around me, laughing, chatting and dancing. The ‘seconds’ hand starting making its way around the clock for the last time of 2010. Everyone joined in to shout out the last 10 seconds until the New Year. “10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2…” When we got to “1” I turned to the special-someone standing with his arm around me. And right at midnight, as a drunken stranger behind me was accidentally spilling her champagne straight into my shoe, we kissed.
Let’s go back again, 7 years this time, to New Year’s Eve 2006. I was in a basement with a few of my closest girlfriends. As the reporter on TV announced that it was officially 11:59pm, my friends and I stood arm in arm, ready for the countdown. We were holding a bottle of champagne that we were very excited to pop right at midnight. “10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2…” As we got to “1”, we turned to each other smiling and went to pop the bottle. Only it didn’t pop. It didn’t pop for a good two minutes, and by that time we were in tears laughing at how anti-climactic the whole thing had been.
Both of these New Year’s Eves were very different, but were they both special? Yes. Were they both fun? Yup. Do I still remember them both fondly? You got it. Was one of them more ‘romantic’ than the other? Correct. Did either of these nights decide the fate of the following year? No!
Getting kissed on New Year’s Eve won’t lead to a completely perfect year, much like not getting kissed won’t lead to a completely disastrous year. No matter who you are, 2013 will consist of days that are amazing, days that are horrible, and everything in between. But those days will not be directly linked to whether or not you have someone to smooch at midnight on New Year’s Eve.
New Year’s Eve is a time to celebrate all that has transpired in the past year and to celebrate the potential of the next one. It’s a fresh start, and a time to reflect on what we want out of life by creating resolutions. So instead of worrying, why not honour the fact that you’re starting off another year surrounded by the people you care about. If I haven’t convinced you, let me ask you a question. Who do you think is more likely to have a good 2013? The person who frantically looks for a midnight kiss and then feels dejected or sad if it doesn’t happen? Or the person who’s determined to have a fun New Year’s Eve, whether that involves a kiss or not? My money is on the latter person.
If New Year’s Eve was an ice cream sundae, the kiss would be a cherry on top. The substance is in the ice cream itself, and what you choose to add onto the ice cream in order to make it more delicious. The ice cream, the sprinkles, the chocolate sauce, that’s your night and what you choose to make of it. The cherry on top is the kiss. It’s a great addition; maybe it even makes the sundae look a little nicer. But when you get down to eating it, what’s the part you enjoy the most? After all, no one makes a sundae just to eat a cherry. So
don’t celebrate New Year’s Eve just to have a kiss.
Ross and Monica from Friends don’t need someone to kiss on NYE. All they need are their moves and a place to bust them.
If you do have a special-someone you’re planning on locking lips with at midnight this New Year’s Eve, enjoy it. If it is with someone you really care for, it tends to be one of those moments you remember in life. If you do not have someone in mind that you want to kiss, then when the countdown ends and 2013 starts, hug your friend, hug your sibling, hug your cat, or just rejoice in the fact that a New Year is upon us. Because if you start out those first moments of 2013 with happiness, kiss or no kiss, I promise it will be a memory that you’re grateful to have too.
Photo Credits
First Photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/c…
Second Photo: http://weheartit.com/entry/39626630/via/astghastgh
Third Photo: http://www.tumblr.com/tagged/g…