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End of the Year

Today is the last day of 2022. Since I've spent most of my life on the academic calendar this means less to me than it may to other folk. 

As an introvert I'm not really into partying as a rule, and much of the culture focuses on making this date into a party. As a lay person (and not a trained historian) I understand that historically there has long been an incentive to celebrate the turning point, a realization that the days have reached there shortest point in the Northern hemisphere and are starting to get longer again.

With the institution of calendars that both took into account the cycle of going around the Sun and the orbit of the Moon around the Earth, there was always a mismatch, and these days at this particular time of year seemed to be off the books.

I wonder how the Southern hemisphere views the holiday, historically.

I'm not a farmer and the seasons of the crops have little direct influence on my life. We have a break in classes this time of year and I guess that is what matters most to me.

As for religious significance, Easter has always mattered to me in a way that Christmas never has. Christ's message to us and voluntary sacrifice as an adult is what forms my belief and I never fetishized his appearance as a baby.

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