Every year, it’s the same pressing question: “What are you going to do on the evening of the 31st?”… While getting together with friends can be a pleasure, it happens that we lack opportunities… or that we simply don’t want to do anything. Rightly so? Here is (finally) the correct answer!
The evening of the 31st: an injunction to party
While there are many ways to ring in the New Year – at a nightclub, with friends, at a restaurant or in bed – this evening needs to be defined. From October onwards, the question was on everyone’s lips: “And what are you doing on the 31st?“. An injunction to celebrate, which marks the start of the year… and which sets the tone for the months to come (the more festive and Instagrammable the New Year, the richer the year will be).
However, this desire to celebrate, this search for intoxication is not a personal choice: it is dictated and governed by society. He who dares”do nothing” – and assumes it, in front of others – is singled out. Worse still, he is seen as a threat, a person “apart”, who must be quickly excluded from the group.
“Partying at New Year’s is not a personal choice, it is firstly linked to social norms. The festive practice is socially regulated. We need to show ourselves on social networks, but also to get together with others in real life. Partying is about building strong relationships, friendly but also sexual”analyzes Christophe Moreau on the Slate site, sociologist specializing in festive practices.
In summary, the 31st is a strange ritual, fantasized and above all worked (correct outfits required, refined dishes on the plate), which leaves no room for chance: we must be happy, “pbecause it gives us the feeling of existing”notes sociologist Rémy Oudghiri from LCI.
“No one dares to face the fact that they won’t do anything special on December 31, because that means that we don’t really exist, that we don’t experience intense things, that our life is boring,” he analyzes.
So, do we really have to go for the “party” box that evening?
For Amélie Boukhobza, clinical psychologist, there is no obligation.
“Not everyone wants to celebrate the New Year and that’s perfectly normal. There is always the idea that we should mark a turning point, end a year or start another with a bang. But, everyone experiences this moment in their own way, and sometimes, it also means doing nothing at all. Some prefer calm, a moment of introspection, a romantic evening or simply refuse to give in to the pace imposed by the expectations of others.
she emphasizes.
The right attitude to adopt in this case? “Respect your own desires“, confirms Amélie Boukhobza.
“Stay at home with a good book, watch a movie or even go to bed before midnight? That’s ok too. Partying is not an obligation, but a choice. We have every right to adapt it to our energy, desire and needs of the moment.”
she concludes.