If we believed everything we saw in movies and on TV, every New Year’s Eve party is epic. If life was like the movies, ringing in the New Year would always involve a big party complete with confetti, champagne, a surprise performance from a B-list rapper, and a kiss from your main love interest to end the whole shebang.
Of course, movies and TV shows don’t always tell the truth, and the above scenario is rarely how New Year’s Eve celebrations actually go. More likely than not, New Year’s Eve involves paying too much money to wait in a super long line and then spend a few mildly fun hours inside the venue dancing to songs you’re tired of with your friend who’s too drunk. Or, it involves a house party that gets shut down too soon and leaves you ringing in the New Year grumpy and drunk in some random neighborhood.
Until a few years ago, I typically went into New Year’s Eve with movie-esque expectations. Whenever something stupid went wrong, something that would have seemed unimportant on any other night, my New Year’s Eve was ruined, and I kept starting the new year being pissed off. And that’s a terrible way to start a new year.
I stopped putting so much pressure on one little evening and started treating New Year’s Eve like it is: just another night.
Instead of worrying about where I go on the last night of the year, I’ve decided to instead worry about who I’m with. The best New Year’s Eve I’ve ever had was in 2014. I told a bunch of my friends to bring their friends and meet me on the beach for the last sunset of the year. We all sat on the sand dunes drinking champagne and watching the sun descend into the ocean, and then I went dancing. I had a friend visiting from out of town, and we managed to find a club that cost less than $20 to get in. It wasn’t a fancy club, there weren’t copious amounts of confetti, and the DJ wasn’t famous, but we danced and drank and had a great time.
It doesn't always have to be epic—it just has to be fun.