By: Joseph Kurtz

December 15, 2020

The year of 2020 is coming to an end. This means New Years is just around the corner, so it’s time to start creating new goals for the coming year. Unfortunately the circumstances of this year have changed the way that we celebrate certain holidays. For example, Thanksgiving was recently canceled in the county of Los Angeles because of the difficulties resulting from the pandemic. Basically you weren’t allowed to go to any restaurant or have large family gatherings.  Despite these challenges, there is still hope for this New Year’s holiday. One of the biggest traditions of New Year’s is to make New Year’s resolutions. According to Cambridge university, a New Year’s resolution is a promise or goal that you make on New Years. According to YouGov, “the most common ones are exercising more (50%), saving money (49%), eating more healthily (43%), and losing weight (37%)”. Though there is no reason to feel obligated to make one of those New Year’s resolutions.  

Here are some New Year resolutions that you may want to consider.  The first New Years resolution that you may want to consider is to go on more hikes. This one is very similar to the exercising resolution, but it requires you to spend more time with nature, which is needed more than ever (just remember to bring a coat). The second New Year’s resolution to consider is going to more small businesses. This one will not only help the struggling business but it also gives you something fun to do for the holidays. Small businesses definitely need our help because of this difficult pandemic. The third New Years resolution is to recycle more. This one may seem strange at first, but when you start to collect all of the Amazon boxes and hand sanitizer bottles that you have, you start to see just how much you can recycle (plus you get some cash for just recycling). The fourth New Years resolution is to be on a screen less. This one could be difficult (especially if the epidemic continues) though I believe its best. Society today requires us to be on a screen everyday and to be honest that is not the healthiest. 

Another New Year’s resolution we could all use is best described as picking a new hobby. Most people probably did this at the start of quarantine, but it’s always important to discover and start a new hobby. Starting your own colony of small organisms is a great and unique new hobby. It might sound strange to own a colony of anything, but it is surprisingly quite relaxing and a very beautiful hobby. If you want to see what it’s like to own an ant colony, AntsCanada’s youtube channel has a selection of videos all about ant farms. Or maybe you will decide to start an aquarium. Start by doing some research on the marine animal you would like to raise as some species will not coexist peacefully.  There’s no permit necessary to start an aquarium which makes the process a bit smoother. SerpaDesign’s youtube channel offers some videos that display different and intricate aquarium designs. 

This last New Year’s resolution is about doing altruistic activities. According to Merriam – Webster altruism is a behavior that is not beneficial; or is harmful to oneself but is beneficial for someone else. We could all use a little kindness nowadays. Volunteering is a great way of fulfilling these resolutions, and it’s one of the few activities we are still able to do. Recently, at a church in Santa Barbara there were volunteers feeding the homeless. In sum it doesn’t matter if your New Year’s resolutions are about sleeping or exercising.  The main point is to commit to a new goal for the year.