…but why do we make such a huge deal about New Year’s?

A little while ago I watched the ball drop in New York. A few minutes ago CNN was showing how various countries rung in the New Year. Fox News is now broadcasting from someplace around downtown Nashville (we have 29 minutes to go…).

Why do we do this? When did this start? What makes flipping from 11:59p to 12:00m so special just because we also go from  December 31 to January 1…?

It’s just like every other night. This happens every 24 hours. Yet every 365 (or 366) days we make a huge party out of it. Why is that? Why do people feel the need to really party it up huge this one night?

Don’t get me wrong. It’s not that I think New Year’s celebrations are stupid or unimportant. I have several markers I "celebrate" every year. New Year’s is one of them. I just can’t seem to answer this particular question in a way that satifies my own mind. At least not tonight.