Here comes the day when I write another New Year's blog. The task, it seems, has never been harder. On the one hand, I can’t readily jump into the holiday vibe because I can’t believe the New Year is already on the horizon, and on the other, it seems that despite the calendar, the New Year has never been less of a topic. The old year has "messed up the pot" so badly that everything still feels like it’s steaming and "still smells of it." How can we think about the new year when the claws of the old one are still holding on, summoning both past and distant experiences? Although the tragedies in Ribnikar, Malo Orašje, and Dubona happened last year, their impact still lingers. To this fresh wound, the canopy collapse in Novi Sad was added, and as a bitter salt to both wounds, came news of beatings, imprisonments, insensitive statements, and evasion of responsibility. All together, this has opened wounds that aren’t from this year or even this century. Instead of gently stepping into the New Year, we’ve found ourselves back in the one we awaited during the (student) protests of 1996-1997. We’ve returned to the 1990s – the most unfortunate years of our lives. Meanwhile, in Ukraine and Gaza, tens and hundreds of thousands of people continue to live and lose days and years. They lose lives and loved ones.

Given all this, it is impossible not to ask ourselves if and how we should celebrate, or how and with what to enter the New Year. Does it make sense to celebrate, decorate, and sing when so many people are surrounded by sorrow and fear? Does it make sense to create a colorful New Year’s atmosphere when the one around us is quite black or at least gray? Does it make sense to craft New Year’s greetings and wishes when it feels that a happy and cozy future is merely a desire? If we think that this is exactly why we should celebrate, laugh, and hope, are we hurting those who are healing wounds, mourning, or waiting for someone from detention or the hospital? Do we have the right to happiness with so much suffering in the world around us?

I’ve asked these questions, but I don’t have an answer. In fact, I think each of us needs to find an answer for ourselves. Everyone should think about what will lighten the burden and what they need, both during the holidays and from the holidays. I’ve already written about how it’s important to tailor things to ourselves and that everything, from completely ignoring the holidays to "everything like in a Christmas movie," is okay. I’m repeating myself because I believe this is a message worth repeating. If nothing else, at least to silence the potential inner critics who fuel shame and guilt for celebrating or for "glooming and radiating." It’s normal and completely okay to ignore the holidays, rest, and calm ourselves. This is normal every year, but especially after this one and this kind of year. It’s also normal to (perhaps even because of this) celebrate in full splendor – to give ourselves a little distraction, Christmas movies, songs, laughter, and socializing. To take a little breather and recharge. It’s normal for us to reflect on the year and plan the next, making various (often unrealistic) New Year’s resolutions. Normal, even though we all know how briefly these resolutions last and how rarely they come to fruition. It’s normal to stay content where we are and with who we are, just as it’s normal to conclude that, although dissatisfied, we can’t change anything right now. It’s normal for us to need a break from change, action, perfectionism, and the "New Year, new me" stories.

Now that I’ve written all of this, I realize that the immense normalization of this year was necessary for me too. Although I’m someone who usually defends red-and-gold holiday colors, promotes Christmas movies, or decorates the tree before December, this year I got seriously stuck in all of it. I haven’t even started decorating my house or my counseling office, I haven’t booked Santa Claus yet, and I haven’t bought a single gift. And as if that wasn’t enough, I’ve painted this New Year’s blog in rather dark colors. I felt like that, and it needed to be this way.

However, knowing myself, I believe that Santa’s sleigh will soon bring holiday cheer to my home too. I believe that the first ornament I hang on the tree will also unlock my Happy Child Mode. I believe that choosing and wrapping presents for the important people in my life will remind me how grateful I am to have them and how beautiful our micro-world is. I believe that my January 1st pajama-puzzle day will bring much-needed peace and rest from everything and anything. I believe (because I want to, and I must believe) that 2025 will bring what 2024 lacked and stumbled over. I believe and hope that the good things from 2024 (and there was plenty of that) will continue to endure and serve as a resource, a beacon, and a reason to smile. I believe and hope that 2025 will be a "solid 5" for all of you, and that together, we will make at least a slightly better and fairer world. I know, I recycled last year’s wish, but some things are worth repeating. Some things, like solidarity, unity, non-violence, honesty, and the fight for justice… (feel free to continue the list) cannot be given up. These aren’t just (New Year’s) wishes but urgent needs. Something that, although it may not be today, should and must become our reality.

I wish for us to be able to congratulate each other at the end of 2025, as we welcome 2026, for creating that reality. Happy New Year to us, and may we have the chance to do at least 365 good things for ourselves, for others... for all of us!