New Year, Same You

In today's story, New Year, Same You, Linda breaks with tradition and finds a new path into the new year

Today's prompt was inspired by the push that we often feel to reinvent ourselves at the beginning of every year. Personal growth is great, but what if we embrace our same selves--as we are--before trying to change into someone new. 

If you enjoy today's story, please share it with your friends and leave a review for Freely Written. You can also send me  a prompt suggestion, and I'll be sure to credit you in the episode. Thank you!

More about Susan Quilty

Susan Quilty mainly writes novels, including two standalone novels and her current YA series: The Psychic Traveler Society.  Susan's short stories for Freely Written are created during quick writing breaks and shared as a way to practice her narration skills before she dives into recording audio versions of her novels.

Website:  SusanQuilty.com
Facebook: Freely Written
The Freely Written Book: Freely Written Vol. 1
Freely Written merch: Bitter Lily Books Shop

Transcript

Below is the transcript for Season 1, Episode 132 of Freely Written, a podcast by author Susan Quilty:

Welcome to Freely Written where a simple prompt leads to a little unplanned fiction.  

[Light piano music]

Hi, friends! I’m Susan Quilty and today’s prompt is New Year, Same You.

Happy New Year! As you may or may not know, outside of writing, I am a yoga teacher. Each January, I see an uptick in attendance. New students come in with a plan to make this the year they take better care of themselves, eat salads, exercise, sleep well, etc. It’s the whole “new year, new you” messaging that gets pushed every January.

Now, I don’t want to knock whatever gets someone interested in self-care. If turning over a new calendar year motivates you to adopt some healthier habits, that’s great. What I don’t like is the “new you” part of that messaging. 

What if instead of trying to change yourself into a “new you,” you first tried embracing the “same you” just as you are? What if “same you” is already a great person who might just want to try some new things, like yoga and an earlier bedtime? What if those new things are less about changing who you are and more about exploring potential new interests?

Those were the thoughts rattling around when I chose today’s prompt. As always, I wrote today’s story with my usual Freely Written process, where I sit down with a prompt and write whatever comes to mind, with no planning and very little editing, then record the story and share it with you. 

Before the story, one quick request: Please check out my novels! I write contemporary fiction that is grounded in reality but often features a sci-fi, fantasy, or psychological twist. You can shop for my novels through my website, SusanQuilty.com, or look up “Susan Quilty” wherever you buy books. There are also links in the show notes. Thanks for your support!

And now, on to the story:

New Year, Same You

On December 31st, Linda did not go to her local New Year’s Eve party. On January 1st, she did not go to the New Year’s Day community open house. For the first time in her adult life, Linda broke rank with her peers and did not step into a New Year Machine. 

Now, a week into the new year, Linda watched county workmen taking down New Year, New You! posters all over town. She passed by the community center on her drive to work and saw New Year Machines being loaded into trucks to be stored for another year. Or perhaps moved back to those high-end spas where a “new you” could happen any time of year… for a price. 

Deeply discounted New Year Machine treatments were only available during New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day celebrations. A public service sponsored through many community centers, particularly the kind of upper middle-class communities where Linda had lived all of her life. 

It was a tradition. Go to a New Year’s event to celebrate the turning of a new calendar year and also spend 5 minutes in a New Year Machine, getting scanned for ways to improve and injected with the latest health and beauty treatments. 

Linda knew from experience that the treatments would have a limited effect without pricy follow-up visits throughout the year. But she could never fathom starting January without them. Until this year. 

The decision had crept in gradually. Less of a decision and more of a question that had teased at the back of Linda’s mind. It began in early December when she was walking downtown, getting in some holiday shopping, and found a simple brochure resting on an iron bench. 

The brochure was unassuming. Pale blue paper with silver writing that read, “New Year, Same You.” A ray of sunlight had hit the brochure as Linda approached, glinting off the lettering and highlighting the pale blue against the black metal of the bench. 

Linda couldn’t read it from a distance, of course, but the look of the brochure caught her eye. Her feet slowed and her eyes skimmed, catching on the words. She nearly passed without stopping, assuming it was the typical New Year messaging, before her brain recognized the change in the familiar phrase. New Year, Same you? 

The woman behind Linda cursed as she abruptly swerved to avoid Linda’s suddenly still form. Others passed more smoothly, the line of pedestrians veering around her the way a river would shift around a stone fallen along its bank. 

Linda turned back to the bench and picked up the brochure, running her fingers over letters that looked slightly raised but felt as smooth as the lightly glossed paper. New Year, Same You. Linda glanced around as if the brochure were the bait in an unseen trap, yet no one seemed to notice or care that she had picked it up. 

Still, Linda did not read the brochure on the street. She tucked it into one of her shopping bags and went on with her day. But later that night, after she’d forgotten its existence, the brochure fluttered to the floor from the folds of a new sweater. Linda picked it up and began to read. 

The brochure was starkly simple. It did not condemn the New Year Machines, caution against vanity, or rail against a system that often lured people into spending their savings on mid-year treatments they could scarcely afford. It simply asked a question: Why do you want a new you?

The rest of the brochure talked briefly about self-acceptance: Loving the person you already are. Nurturing the you that gradually changes with life experience. Letting yourself evolve in your own time. But it was the question—Why do you want a new you?—that stuck with Linda.

And so, on New Year’s Eve, Linda found herself not interested in meeting her friends at the community party. She was more inclined to stay home and read a book, so she did. On New Year’s Day, Linda thought about stopping by the community open house, but felt like taking a long walk through the nearby park instead. 

In doing what she wanted, Linda had let the New Year’s festivities pass before fully realizing that she had missed her chance for a discounted visit to a New Year Machine. She had no itemized report—spit out by the machine’s scan—telling her what to improve in her body. She had no enhanced vitamin cocktails surging through her veins or fillers smoothing out her fine lines. She was just Linda. The same Linda she had been on December 30th. 

When Linda arrived at work, the parking garage was packed, and a steady stream of coworkers were passing through the lobby. It was back to business as usual after the quiet chaos of December holiday vacations. Linda walked through the lobby self-consciously, noting the fresh faces of colleagues who had not skipped their New Year Machine visits. 

As she neared her cubicle, Linda saw Sammy and Marta comparing their New Year scans. 

“I need squats to plump up my flat bum,” Sammy shared with a shake of his backside.

“I need cardio to slim down mine!” Marta laughed, adding an expression of mock horror. 

They were standing by a poster advertising the company’s gym schedule and making plans for their new lunchtime routines. 

“Hey, Linda!” Marta called out. “What did you get this year?” 

Her happy smile faded as she carefully studied Linda’s unaltered face. Sammy cocked his head to one side and raised an eyebrow. 

It was the moment Linda had dreaded. She tacked on a bright smile and pulled out her practiced response. “Oh, I didn’t bother with that this year.”

She moved past her friends and into her cubicle, removing her jacket and tucking her bag into a lower drawer. Keeping busy to not see Sammy and Marta’s silent reactions. 

“Didn’t bother?” Marta asked haltingly. 

“So, you didn’t…?” Sammy didn’t finish his question. 

“No,” Linda answered calmly. “New year, same me.”

There was an awkward shuffle as Sammy and Marta looked down at their scans, then glanced at each other. 

“Okay,” Sammy said slowly. Then quickly added, “You look great anyway!

 “Yeah,” Marta agreed too loudly. “You can hardly even tell.”

Linda looked up at them, suddenly amused by their overcompensation. 

When they left, she studied her face in the small mirror that hung on her cubicle wall. There were a few fine lines around her eyes, signs of the laughter she’d shared throughout the year. There were some lines across her forehead, etched from hours of thought. Her lips had thinned since the treatments she’d received last year, but they had a pleasant shape and stretched easily into a gentle smile. 

As Linda looked at her face, she thought of the life she’d lived and how her actions showed up in her body. She thought back to past January lunchtimes she had spent in the gym, trying to keep up with the New Year Machine’s recommendations and remembered how they wore her down until she gradually gave up. Usually around the same time her fillers began to fade. 

But she also remembered feeling strong during those workout months. She remembered the sense of accomplishment and wondered if she could get that back without sacrificing herself to a “new Linda.” Could she be the “same Linda” but shake up her routine just a little? 

That afternoon, Linda left her car in the parking garage. She took the book she’d brought from home and walked to a cozy café down the street. The brisk walk sharpened her appetite and brought color to her cheeks. 

As she settled at a table with her soup and sandwich, Linda saw another woman from the office sitting nearby with her own book. They shared a smile of vague recognition and read to themselves while they ate. Linda peeked at the woman a few times, noticing that they seemed to be around the same age and that the woman had no obvious signs of a recent visit to a New Year Machine. 

Thinking about that, Linda wondered if it mattered. She didn’t think badly of her friends for using the New Year Machine and wasn’t sure that she wouldn’t use it again herself someday. But seeing the woman made her curious about people outside of her group. She glanced around the café, noticing many with fine lines, thin lips, and fuller bodies. They were laughing and talking over lunch, happy with their lives as they were. 

As she finished eating, Linda saw that the other woman was packing away her book and preparing to leave. A nervous rush spurred her to follow quickly, catching up to the woman on the sidewalk. 

“Hi, I’m Linda. I’m in Sales. I don’t think we’ve met.”

“I’m Jeanine,” the woman said, shaking Linda’s offered hand. “I’m in HR. Do you want to walk back together?”

As they walked and talked, Linda discovered they had a lot in common. Yet, somehow, they’d never met. Linda asked if Jeanine would like to walk to lunch together sometimes. Jeanine invited Linda to join her book club. 

By the time she returned to her desk, Linda was glowing from the walk and conversation. She looked back in her small mirror and smiled, deciding there was more than one way to explore a fresh outlook in the new year. 

The End 

Thanks for listening. If you enjoyed today’s story, please share it with your friends. Remember, you can listen to past stories in any order. And, since they’re written with no planning, you never know what kind of story you may find. Some are sweet, some are silly, and some are kind of strange. That’s the beauty of a free-written story!

Until next time, try a little free writing of your own. Let go of any planning and see where your imagination takes you. 

[Light piano music]