So You're Staying In For New Year's Eve | Happy 2022
So you are staying in for New Year's Eve? I promise there is no reason to be sad about it because that may be a smart move.
Since the pandemic happened in 2019, our social lives as we know it have changed. Being the master adapters we are, we found ways to still live our best lives–just masked up and six feet apart. Now, Corona has brought along her younger siblings, Delta and Omicron, and it looks like they are walking into 2022 with us. The rise in cases has become extremely high, where it seems if Covid hasn’t caught up with you in the past two years, it could be knocking on your door. Just over the holidays, I’ve seen several posts on social media of people having to quarantine due to testing positive for the variant. As result, it left a lot of us spending Christmas and New Year alone.
Last year, I opted out to stay in for New Year’s Eve. 2020 was such a long and tough year–being the beginning of the world shutting down–I needed a moment to wrap my head around all the changes. But why would I choose to be alone when I have already been quarantining by myself? It was the perfect opportunity to look at my life, check in with myself, and see where I was at. I’m the type of person who loves to hop on any opportunity that allows me a fresh start. I’ve always enjoyed reflecting on my life, seeing how I’ve grown, and finding ways to be better, to be smarter. In 2020, I was so focused on keeping connected with the world, I forgot to stay connected with me.
If you are someone like me who misses when the world was so still, then you may have gained some tools to help you combat feeling lonely during this time. Here are a few things that I’ve done last NYE or plan on doing for this upcoming one. I hope you find these helpful!
The Ultimate Stay-In New Years Plan
Pick something off your goal list from this year that you wished you could have accomplished. Something that you can do at home. A lot on my list had to do with being creative, so it wasn’t hard for me to find arts and craft activities.
Have A Movie Marathon - Catch up on some movies that you may have missed this year or rewatch some of your favorites. If you are a Harry Potter fan like me, you can binge-watch the series on HBO Max and prepare for the new Harry Potter special coming out on New Year Day. Same thing with The Matrix and the Spiderman movies.
Order Take-Out - Last year I did this and I honestly did not hate it. Even though I had been missing sitting down at a restaurant, to have one of my favorite meals in the comfort of my apartment had the homebody in me screaming with joy.
Make A Meal - If you grew up in a Black home as I did, then you know their staple meal for New Year’s Eve is a pot of black-eyed peas. Why you may ask? I honestly never knew until I looked up this post, ha. We all know many southern foods were scraps given to slaves, like collard greens, ham hocks, and everybody’s favorite, chitterlings. Although these peas were seen as a poor man’s meal, they became a sign of good luck. “Eat poor on New Year’s and eat fat the rest of the year”
Indoor picnic - Instead of eating my delicious meal at a table or on the couch, I decided to push my couch back, take the comfiest of my covers (shoes off on my carpet), and lay them out on the floor. It gave a whole new vibe to my home that I kept the pallet a few days longer. It was comfy and it gave the perspective that I’m someplace new in my home that I am exploring because I’m normally not on the floor. Be a little extra and dress for the occasion. Pick up some flowers before the night and place them around to even give you that green feel, bringing in the new year literally smelling the roses.
Clean your house - Get rid of old clothes, things you don’t need, old mail and paper, get it all out. And clean your car!
Spa Night - Pamper yourself. Get some wine, try a new face mask. This is a good time to relax and let go of the tension from the past year.
Invite A Few Close Friends For A Game Night - Now I know this is supposed to be a list for being by yourself, but if you do have a small number of people you can be around, this can be a fun intimate time. And you can make it a pajama night.
Do a building activity - Legos, puzzles, anything that you can do to have that feeling of accomplishment coming into the new year.
Paint - This is one of my plans for this New Year’s Eve. I’ve always loved painting and it’s been something I can meditate on. Currently, Michaels has 50% OFF canvases or you can get a pack from Five Below.
Journal - If you have never been into journaling, maybe now is a great time to start. Write about how your year was, put it all down on paper. Your worries, success, awesome stories to tell, all of it.
Time Capsule - Do it for this year or for the past years. Add a letter to your future self, a wish, or what you hope for the new year. This can give you something to look forward to.
Scrapbook - When I was young, I was obsessed with documenting everything. Every field trip, camp stay, birthday party, whatever, I cried to my mom for only a disposable camera. It was something about going to Walgreens and getting the film developed—waiting those 2-3 days for them to be done to a little girl was terrible. You can get your pictures in hand at Walgreens. It’s a lot quicker now and you can do it straight from your phone. Head to an art store, pick out something you would want to hold your pictures in, and create!
Vision Board - If you follow my Instagram, you would’ve seen my recent post on the vision board I did for 2021. I have never been a vision board person, but this is something I’m really happy I did. Seeing all my hopes and dreams right in front of me really made it real. I was knocking off my goals just 3 months into the year.
Manifest - Slight plug here. The main thing that I enjoyed from my New Years’ Eve last year was the time I took out to sit still in my room and literally prayed over my body from head to toe. I took time around every area of my body and spoke specifics of what I wanted. This was an exercise I shared on my Instagram. So if this sparks your interest, I definitely suggest grabbing some wine (or your champagne) and checking it out.
Plan Your 2022 - This may be obvious since we all pretty much come up with resolutions, but maybe you can go a step further and plan the year by month, weeks, or days if you’re that detailed.
Take the time to really check in with yourself. - See how you’re feeling, not just where your head is at but also your heart. We hardly take the time to just chill. In a society where being on the move is the image for success, we forget that success can also look like happiness just within ourselves. I hope you go into 2022 with you in mind. Be intentional, stay soft, be safe. Have an amazing end to your 2021 and a great start to the new year!
