If you haven't heard it yet, I'd be really surprised. I've seen people advocate for "New Year, New Me" on social media, as well as in person. Those who do seem to think that with the ringing in of the New Year comes a brand-new, shiny opportunity: a blank canvas. When that ball drops, boom! It all starts over. The clock rewinds, and people now have the opportunity to remake themselves.

To some extent, that is what happens, but I think that it's been taken too far.

New Years isn't about working with a blank canvas. New Years is about working with a slab of clay. When the year starts, you begin molding the design with your actions, choices, and relationships. An image is forged, becoming clearer and clearer with each day. However, as the year goes on, you begin to see things about the design that could be improved. When the New Year comes, you mold the clay again. Not immediately, but by a gradual process, the design changes.

This is how the New Year works for us. No one event or decision acts as a "reset" button. The changes must be made over time. Just because someone notices things about themselves that they want to work on, it doesn't mean that they will resolve themselves just like that. Making a positive change takes work, and it doesn't have anything to do with the New Year. Sure, it's a great motivator to associate the change in the year with a change in yourself, but let's face the facts: we make these changes day by day, despite what time of year it is. The process is never-ending.

In my opinion, the only difference with the New Year is how commercialized it is. Everyone rushes to broadcast their New Years resolutions on social media, most of which are forgotten about in a week. I feel that this is due to the fact that most people expect these changes to happen immediately with the New Year, and get discouraged when the going gets tough. I'll tell you now: the New Year has nothing to do with it. You do.

It doesn't have to be a "new you." There is no blank canvas. You work with what you have and the past you've built for yourself. The self you are today shapes the self you are tomorrow, and the day after that, and the day after that. Instead of making a new you, make a better you. Target the things you want to change, and value the things you already thrive in.

Happy New Year.