Damn’t Janus: New Year, New You

January takes its name from Janus, the two-faced Roman god who simultaneously looks backward and forward in time and space (and left and right at crosswalks).

It tracks that Janus, the recent solstice, and the launch date of our New Year should generally converge at this point on the calendar. As a symbolic moment of reflection and projection—of what was and what can be—it’s perfect. That said, of the Roman gods, Bacchus tends to get the spotlight come Dec. 31. Some New Year’s celebrations are said to be bacchanalian, resulting in the god of wine and revelry getting blamed (or credited) for joyous excess and the ritual bonding that comes with holding someone’s hair as they worship another deity, the god of porcelain.

Janus, relatively sober by comparison (despite the fact that two mouths theoretically mean they could imbibe twice as much), simply surveys the scene with 20/20 hindsight and foresight. All they ask is that you look back without nostalgia and look forward without illusion.

I…