Seven-year-old Shetland Sheepdog Darby takes a stroll along German Street with its owner, Betsy Hill, of Shepherdstown, on New Year's Day. Tabitha Johnston

SHEPHERDSTOWN — The new year arrived last Wednesday, and, although many celebrants had been up the previous night to welcome the arrival of 2020, some forced themselves to step outside and begin the year right.

For some celebrants, that meant taking their New Year’s resolutions seriously, as they prepared to change their lifestyles for the foreseeable future.

“I’m pretty content with how my life is in the moment — I have a steady job and steady income, and I’m surrounded by people I love and care about,” said Shepherd University 2012 alumna Kellen Healy, of Baltimore. “If there’s one thing I’d like to change for the New Year, it might be cliche, but I guess the only thing I’d like to change is maybe go to the gym more.

Healy, who drove down to Shepherdstown on New Year’s Eve to celebrate the arrival of the new year with some of her college friends, said she thinks New Year’s resolutions should be manageable and realistic.

“I think a lot of people consider a New Year’s resolution as a kind of deadline, but bringing in the New Year should be about doing stuff that makes you happy — not just reaching toward a new goal,” Healy said. “A lot of people view New Year’s resolutions as a change to get out of bad habits, but you can do that any time of the year.”

Community members congregate in Domestic for its annual New Year's Day brunch. Tabitha Johnston

Joe Johnson, of Washington, D.C., agreed with Healy’s viewpoint, as he took a break from walking his German Shepherd down German Street. According to Johnson, he already implemented this perspective in his life, over the past year.

“I’m not a resolution guy. Anything I want to do during the year, I did,” Johnson said. “I don’t need to resolve to do it, I just do it.”

However, his partner, Asli Carome, of Washington, D.C., said she thought the purpose behind New Year’s resolutions held some merit.

“I plan to exercise more and try to be kinder. I try to do all of my resolutions every year,” Carome said. “I think it’s really nice to reevaluate and reset at the beginning of the new year, with new goals. If you write down your hopes and dreams, you’re more likely to achieve them.”

Jefferson High School junior Allyson Piercy said she does make New Year’s resolutions, but that she approaches completing them in a unique way.

The Matt Holmes Trio plays easy-listening jazz tunes for Domestic's annual New Year's Day brunch. Tabitha Johnston

“I made a 2019 bucket list, and I think that’s what I will do for this year, as well. I usually get most of it done,” Piercy said, mentioning she completed 20 things that she had planned to do on her 2019 bucket list. “I got an ‘A’ in French class — that was one of them. Another one that I did, was a sleepover on my trampoline.”