Here's to Auld Lang Syne and Ringing in the New

Since I have not posted an official Happy New Year greeting, here is a special something for all of you...

 

A rendition of the familiar tune 'Auld Lang Syne'... played on a harp guitar by well renown Roger Wang from KK

 

Some people may have wondered what the phrase 'Auld Lang Syne' means...

Harry: What does this song mean? My whole life, I don’t know what this song means. It says ‘Should old acquaintance be forgot.’ Does that mean we that should forget old acquaintances or does it mean that if we should happen to forget them, we should remember them which is not possible because we already forgot?

 

Sally: Well maybe it just means that maybe we should remember that we forgot them or something. Anyway, it’s about old friends

 

~ When Harry Met Sally ~

(Trivia time) 'Auld lang Syne' is a traditional Scottish phrase which translates to something like 'long long ago' or 'old long since'... or something that brings to mind days of long ago... like the way we start stories with 'Once Upon a Time'.

 

I remember my mother once explained it to me as something like 'for old time's sake'

 

The tone of some my posts have been somewhat reflective and reminiscent of late. Because you see, you can’t forget about your past because your past is what makes you who you are in the present. It's good to look back every now and then, just to see how far you've come in the journey. To pause and be grateful. Yet not stopping there because to move forward, your eyes need to be focused ahead of you, not behind you.

 

So on the first point, looking behind, my toast for the new year is... "for auld lang syne, guys... for auld lang syne"

 

And on the second point, looking ahead, my toast for this is (to quote Tennyson)...

...Ring out the old, ring in the new,

...The year is going, let him go

 

...Ring out the want, the care, the sin,
The faithless coldness of the times;
Ring out, ring out my mournful rhymes,
But ring the fuller minstrel in.

...Ring out false pride in place and blood,
The civic slander and the spite;
Ring in the love of truth and right,
Ring in the common love of good.

 

Holding up my glass, I say "Here's to Auld Lang Syne and Ringing in the New!"