The words below were written three years ago. i was wrestling with New Year’s at the time, struggling but also fascinated by the attention given to a moment. One year ends and the next begins, and we grow up with the understanding that it’s cause for celebration. There are parties and television specials, but i couldn’t keep from thinking that maybe there was more. Questions worth asking, ideas worth unpacking. Welcome to Midnight has become a conversation we’ve circled back to every year since. i’m proud of these words. They still feel true. i still wrestle with the questions, still wonder about the answers. My favorite part of it all has been to see people join the conversation. Hundreds and hundreds of honest tweets and posts and images, from folks all over the world. We all have questions this time of year. We all have things to put behind us, and things we hope to find. i hope that Welcome to Midnight can once again provide a spark as well as a platform. And i hope it lets you know you’re not alone.
– TWLOHA founder Jamie Tworkowski
Five.
Four.
Three.
Two.
One.
The ball drops and fireworks. Resolutions are made.
People scream and people kiss and is it possible to change?
Is it really truly possible to leave the past behind?
Welcome to Midnight.
Another year comes to a close. Another year begins.
With a moment in between.
Why the fuss?
Why the fame and fireworks?
Is it more than hype? More than something else to sell us?
Is there something to this holiday? Something true inside it?
Because isn’t there something inside us that aches for change…
Dreams it to be possible…
To let go.
To hold on.
To leave it behind.
To start again.
To be new.
Is it possible?
If you’re reading this, if there’s air in your lungs, then you’re alive today tonight right now.
And who can know how long we have here…
And is it a gift? Was it ever a gift? Did that ever feel true or could that one day feel true?
Are there things to fight to live for?
Moments and people… Weddings and children and all your different dreams…
Love…
Is your life more than just your own?
And are there broken things you were made to fight to fix?
Broken families, broken friends… Injustice.
Will you move for things that matter?
Wouldn’t it be nice if change took just a moment?
Wouldn’t it be nice if it were that easy?
Midnight and we’re new. Midnight and the past erased. Midnight and we’re free.
It seems to come slow. It seems to be a surgery.
Forgiveness. Healing. Sobriety. Letting go. Starting over.
It seems to happen slowly over time.
One day at a time, the choice made new each morning.
Will you fight?
Will you fight to be healthy?
Will you fight to be free?
Will you fight for your story?
Will you fight to get the help you need?
Change takes more than a moment, but maybe there’s also something to this celebration of a moment, something to the way it speaks to us, something to the way we fear it, and dream it to be true. Maybe it’s the most honest moment of the year.
It’s possible to change.
Welcome to Midnight.
Here’s to the possibilities.
Peace to You.
jamie
