Kelly Conaboy is writing an advice column for Dipp readers. It's going to be very serious. So serious, in fact, we named it Very Serious: An Advice Column by Kelly Conaboy. Just email her at kelly.conaboy@gmail.com with whatever's bothering you and each week, Kelly will solve one lucky reader's biggest problem. You can read all of Kelly's excellent advice here.

Dear Kelly,

I’m dreading all of the social outings and various other obligations I’ve put off until “the new year.” So many coffees or drinks with acquaintances, so much work. How do I gear myself up to meet them head-on or, better, what is a new excuse I can use once the new year has arrived?

From,

Jenna

Oh, Jenna.

There is nothing quite like the delicious feeling of putting something off until “the new year,” is there? The new year … a distant destination we cannot even fathom. A point in time that, as far as we’re concerned, may never arrive at all. A roomy closet into which we can shove all of our work projects, meetings, and social outings while we briefly forget about them and go on about our merry way, blissfully and willfully ignorant of what is to come. Ahh, we sigh, thank god we’re still in the “old year,” where obligations aren’t expected to be fulfilled, and life is but a dream.