I am intrigued by the expression, “Happy New Year.” While putting away the last of our Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer collection, my best friend from childhood phoned to wish me “Happy New Year.” When the city of Jackson came to haul away the remnants of the holiday trash piled high on my corner, I heard the jolly workers yelling to a neighbor working in her yard, “Happy New Year.”
The groomer says it when I drop off our pack of four-legged children, and I receive numerous e-mails with the subject line: “Happy New Year.” I”m an eternal optimist myself, so I get it. It”s a tradition of bidding farewell to the past and welcoming the hope of the future. It”s a gesture steeped in tradition. Out with the old and in with the new, right?
Well, the New Year does hold promise for so many who wish to make resolutions and see them happen, myself included, possibly to shed a few holiday pounds or maybe learn a new language. Perhaps it”s even time for a brand new you. Ready or not, January might just be the best time to boldly go where everyone has dared you go … into the salon with something new in mind. Don”t make them double dog dare you. Just do it!
It requires some courage to let go of last year”s grown-out bangs or that shade of blonde that saw you through spring and summer, but a new and contemporary perspective might very well be a reason to clink your champagne flute. I am known as “the makeover guy” to so many in Mississippi, and I know a few things about making over and being made over. A “makeover” doesn”t mean there”s a thing wrong with how you look now. It just means you are taking control, and you have decided it is time for a change.
It”s hardly worth the fuss, you think? Well, the next time you walk past a mirror, pause there for a few minutes with yourself. When was the last time you thought of yourself as beautiful, not just “OK” or even “pretty enough,” but unmistakably and without a doubt drop dead gorgeous? Hum, that”s what I thought. Every woman needs to feel as beautiful as she is.
Now, I don”t want y”all to mistake external beauty for inner beauty, because I am a strong advocate for the two co-existing. True beauty shines forth from within, but it doesn”t hurt to know that the highlights or layers you are wearing are the best either. Plus, if you look beautiful, you feel beautiful. It”s contagious in a good way. A hot cut, flawless hair color, or foundation that is radiant might put a spring in your step — even in the winter season — on your path to being happy, well, even sassy, in the New Year.
I will only say this once, and you better listen closely the first time, since I am not one to repeat gossip. But I “hear tell,” as my mama used to say, that a makeover is a surefire way to kick off (yeah, I”m going to say it), a Happy New Year. Go ahead. I dare you!
The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.
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