Welcome to the New Year! Once again the Earth has successfully managed to orbit around the sun without blowing up. Though, admittedly, many people have tried. Really, really hard.

But, somehow, humanity always finds a way to avoid oblivion. Rather than rollover and allow ourselves to be blindsided by destruction, we always face it and wait patiently for other people to resolve the issues. Good for them, I say. For without the lazy people and the responsible ones, we’d all go down the tubes. We all have a place in the system. Find yours and do what you need to.

On New Year’s Eve we watched the obligatory New Year’s Rockin’ Eve (which no longer rocks, but rather jiggles). Every year I’m astounded by the amount of people who turn out in Times Square to watch a lighted ball fall down. They stand in the cold, sometimes rain, with no food, no drink and no real purpose. I’ve never been able to understand why. Until just a few moments ago.

Human beings, no matter where they live, what they believe or what they do, all have one basic desire: Community. Throughout our entire lives we seek to find a community of like-minded people who do like-minded things for like-minded reasons.

We, as a species, desire being together for any reason. We join churches, support groups, Mommy’s Day Out Groups, fan clubs, softball teams, the local ball game; you name it, for brief moments of camaraderie. Even our most basic diversions, movies, concerts, dance clubs, have a communal aspect.

And this is becoming more and more important as time marches on. Family units are becoming more fractured with every year. Where we once had a large, extended family to draw support from, many families are now small and isolated. Many children grow up without the multi-generational exposure that most of us were so lucky to receive.

Gone are the days of gathering around and listening to Grandpa’s war stories, and the accompanying misty eyes as Grandpa reflected over his youth and what was lost and gained. Gone are the days when we visit a Great Aunt, who hauls out her music box collection, each with a story surrounding it. And gone are the days when you’d receive a wonderful letter from your Great Uncle, who could write the most beautiful three pages about a squirrel running up a tree that you’ve ever read.

Neighborhoods, more often than not, have been replaced by home grids, where you rarely speak with your neighbors. Rare is the instance where you can count on your next-door neighbor to watch your kids after school.

So we seek community where we can find it. At the movie theater, at the local pool. Even the grocery store.

That is why people flock to New Year’s Eve. It’s a communal celebration of nothing more than being alive. There’s no underlying meaning. There’s no theology, no political meaning. People simply share that space because they are alive, and happy about it. They are happy to share the space with other revelers with the same mission: To scream for a ten-second interval.

Life’s pleasures are often simple. And you don’t get simpler than that. New Year’s is still a holiday I just don’t get. But I understand the draw.

Take your pleasures where you find them. And my New Year’s wish to you is that you find your community. And I mine.