The EYES have it!: Day 365 ~ In the Wake of…

December 31, 2014

My Instead: My girlfriend and I hosted a New Year's Eve Party.

New Year’s Eve always seems to sneak up on me in the wake of Christmas preparations and parties. I rarely have any plans in advance for this annual event – this year was no exception. My girlfriend Annette and I knew we could enjoy an evening at home if nothing showed up on our social horizon, so plans outside of “us” were not that important..

We found out that we had a few friends like us, staring at a naked square on their calendar on the 31^st. We tossed around variations of how and where we could all get together to cap off 2014 and ring in 2015. I hadn't yet hosted a party in my year of “insteads” which was something that I had wanted to do but ran out of time. Then I realized that this could be it. What a way to end this amazing year…celebrating with friends in the comfort (and safety) of my beautiful home! A couple of texts and phone calls later and we were having a party!

There were only seven of us, but I liked the idea of an intimate gathering and the dynamics that ensued. Annette and I had prepared enough finger food to feed about twenty lumberjacks – better to have too much than run out, especially when you’re the hosts. After some consumption and conversation, it was time to play my favorite game “Catch Phrase”. We played just enough rounds to mix the teams so there would be a “newly-formed” team each game. The competition was “brutal”, outperformed only by the laughter.

And then it was time to watch the ball drop in New York’s Time Square. We were lined up in my living room glued to my TV. Then we realized that they were NOT going to replay it from its 12:00 Eastern Time debut. Darn. Our friend Annie had her phone out and I saw 12:00 on her screen. We all cried out Happy New Year, toasted, and embraced.

Then I sipped my champagne…a stranger to my lips for the past year.

Thank you, 2014, for your many lessons, revelations, and inspirations – and, of course, the joy of expressing it all.

And now on to 2015 and to the rest of my life. Hmmm…