6 New Year's Traditions You Can Steal

Shh, nobody tell all those revelers packed into Times Square, but December 31 is not the only party on the calendar. Throughout the spring, summer and fall, people around the world will be celebrating a New Year, whether it's 2555 or 5772. This holiday, think beyond the ball drop by incorporating one of these rituals into your celebration; for instance, you can...

Part Ways with the Past

It's hard to start the year fresh when your brain is cluttered with the unkind comment you made to your mother at Thanksgiving or the condolence note you forgot to send back in April. People observing the Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashanah, let go of this emotional baggage by doing Tashlikh, which literally means "casting off" and involves visiting a flowing body of water where they symbolically throw in the mistakes and sins of the previous year. Tend to your own emotional housekeeping by stopping by a local river and tossing in a few bread crumbs for every error you'd prefer to forget. It's just as satisfying as burning pictures of your ex—but with a smaller chance of setting your hair on fire.