Traditions

The ye olde mailbox is still overflowing with blog ideas I didn't get to last year. And doesn't it feel great to call 2021 "last year"? 2022 is off to a great start, right? So for your planning for later on this year, here's a list of ways to make 2023 even better! From around the world and down your alley, here are ways that people assure themselves of a better tomorrow:

👉Wear red underwear, find love. This is in Mexico and other Hispanic countries. People wear red, green, or gold underwear - anything as long as it's bright and flashy - to begin the New Year.

The color code is: red will help you find love, green or gold will help you find money, and also, white undies will help you find peace.

However, I must warn you that if you get locked out of your house and you're darting around the neighborhood in your whitey tighties, you will find no peace.

👉If you pack your suitcase, you will get to travel more. This is from Colombia, where the habit is to pack your valise and tote it around all day as a way of guaranteeing a trip or two.

In my neighborhood, it's similar: if you walk around carrying a rake, someone will ask you to round up those leaves in the back yard.  And that someone is I.

👉In Spain, they eat 12 grapes at midnight on New Year's Eve, one for every month of the year.

In other parts of the world, people climb the stairs BACKWARDS up to their bedroom, one step at a time for all twelve strokes of the clock at midnight.

This is where we get the notion of a twelve-step program. 

I guess if you live in a ranch house with no stairs, you can always try climbing up a ladder, but be careful. You might get your bell rung on that last rung.

👉In many places, people are sure to sweep and vacuum the house thoroughly before the year ends so as to sweep away negativity.

Another good way to get rid of negativity is to delete some of the crazy talk channels on the tv.

👉All through the South, there are people who would no more begin the New Year without Black-Eyed peas on the their plate than they would walk nekkid through the mall. Black-eyed peas are a legume known in other parts of the world as "cowpeas," but I assure you, the taste will not remind you of any part of a cow. Having them with a meal on 1/1 is said to bring financial prosperity all year long. For one thing, you can get a can of them for 99 cents, and that's a lot cheaper than filet mignon. See? You're richer already!

 👉Down in Ecuador when the clock says midnight, the whole family troops outside to scarecrow stuffed with newspapers. This represents getting rid of the bad things that happened in the year gone by and scare away new negativity. However, tests reveal that negativity is not afraid of a little fire. The really best way to scare it off is to play Enya music while doing an interpretative dance.