Family, politics, travel and making money are among the hopes and dreams of people looking forward to the new year that is now on our doorsteps.
And for a select few, New Year’s Eve is a night to get out and have some fun with no special meaning at all.
A group of young Israeli men who came to Red Deer to work said they celebrated their New Year in September, during Yom Kippur.
“What’s a New Year’s resolution?” said one of the young men, who is working in the Parkland Mall.
He was soon joined by another Israeli friend, Deni Elbus, who said his hopes and dreams are to make more money, find a wife and start raising a family. A third man, Peter Gor, explained that Israelis have no tradition of celebrating the New Year on Jan. 1.
“We make it on Kippur,” said Gor.
“You fast, one day, you torture yourself. You don’t watch TV, you don’t use any electronics — everything stops.”
Yom Kippur — the holiest day of the year in Jewish tradition — is a time for cleansing and thinking of ways to become a better person, said Gor. Those who make those sorts of resolutions prefer not to break them, he said.
The more secular tradition behind the coming New Year’s celebrations means people feel less pressure to make a New Year’s resolution and are also less likely to stick with it.
Mall employee Bea Cockshott said she hasn’t really considered a New Year’s resolution for 2015, and doesn’t believe she has kept many, if any, of the resolutions she has made in the past.
Cockshott said one of her chief concerns for 2015 revolves around the changes in Alberta’s political and economic strength, given the drop in oil prices and the shakedown in the legislature.
Best Buy staff member Brianna Kantor said she also has not yet decided on a resolution. She resolved in the past to quit smoking but the resolution didn’t really work out at all.
Kantor said she hopes that 2015 works out better than 2014, which she said was “kind of sucky.”
Beverly Williams, owner of the World of Woollens kiosk at Parkland Mall, also said she has not given much thought to a New Year’s resolution. She is looking forward to more shopping trips in 2015, including a visit to Nepal, where she will connect with artisans and agents who supply the hand-crafted knitted goods that she sells in Red Deer.
Victoria-based truck driver Barry Propp said he hasn’t thought much about what 2015 will bring, but has already made up his mind about his New Year’s resolution.
Cradling a giggling bundle of joy on his lap while the rest of the family shops, Propp said he wants to spend more time with his two granddaughters.
bkossowan@www.reddeeradvocate.com