The Rock & Roll Shrink Radio Show - Ep 15 - The Clean Slate/Fresh Start

Tonight's discussion involves the study of the attachment people have to a regular, dependable occurrence of social reminders for things that we, as self-responsible adults, “should be doing all year long,” such as: improving ourselves, demonstrating our love, demonstrating our patriotism, family loyalty and respect, honoring our heritage, etc.

Many people rely heavily on holidays and other recurring events or benchmarks as their cue to take certain actions which are actually possible for them at any other time of the year that they choose. Others try to seem superior by bragging that they are above such rituals, by demeaning their significance, usefulness, or meaning held by others.

This topic is a bit of a follow up on our New Year's discussion about resolutions in part, because of its relevance to the mechanic of making resolutions, which is attached to multiple events through the year that our society observes.

We, as a society, have a lot of social energy around benchmarks, and around chances to fix poor choices. This is the cornerstone for a lot of our relationships with particular rites of passage, holidays, events, or even rituals of etiquette or renewal.