Resolutions
I've never been one to make New Year's resolutions. It's not that I don't believe in self-reflection or the power of declaring your intent to make positive changes in your life. I don't think I'm perfect or that I don't need those little adjustments. We're all capable of honing ourselves by whittling away the bad habits and starting new healthy ones. It's just always felt a bit artificial to make some grand pronouncement about how you will change just because the old calendar is going in the trash can. (And if you're going to make a change, how about putting it in the recycling bin or investigating ideas for turning it into something new?) When it's timely to change my ways, I will. I won't wait for January 1, and I won't doom myself to failure by trying changes I'm not ready for just because I feel new year pressure.
Nevertheless, I do make Chinese New Year resolutions. Not logical. I know. But, there it is.
I've been celebrating Chinese New Year, the lunar new year, for many, many years now. I'm not Chinese, but the holiday appeals to me anyway. It tends to be closer to the cusp of Spring, so it seems a more appropriate start of a year. This alternate (and older) celebration is also more convenient because it lies beyond the hectic pace of the Winter holiday season. Usually, there's more time to prepare, and family or friends I invite to welcome the year with me are less likely to have other commitments.
Generally, I've held a dinner party with Chinese food, although I tend to be inclusive about the menu. I've served Chinese-American favourites like fortune cookies and even added Thai or Japanese dishes occasionally. I guess it's been more of a generally Asian feast. The point is to start the year the way you'd like to spend the year- in health, abundance, and happiness with the people you love.
Like other celebrations in our house, there's a mixture of traditional elements and new observations. During the party, we burn a paper kitchen god that I keep on the cabinet above the stove all year. Then, he's replaced with a freshly made incarnation, who will watch over us through the new year. Traditionally, this is done so that he can report to heaven about your family, and in some places, the elder image's lips are smeared with honey so he'll say sweet things about you. In my case, I just like the symbolism. One of the other traditional ways I welcome the new year is by cleaning. The idea is to move into the new year with a fresh start, so those who celebrate Chinese New Year generally devote some time to cleaning house before the festivities, just as they may also make efforts to pay off old debts. As the day approaches, I get the urge to straighten up and scrub the things that don't get addressed in the day to day cleaning. Unfortunately, this year, I've had little spare time in the pre-holiday week. Not only will we be low key today, but my cleaning urge has to be satisfied with relatively mundane dishes and laundry.
In many ways for me, Chinese New Year is a very domestic holiday. Which brings me back to Chinese New Year resolutions. As far as I know, this is not a traditional practice at all, but it seems to fall into the same symbolic bucket with the practice of cleaning. Every year, I think of a task that I want to accomplish with regard to my home. It might be simple like replacing the living room drapes, or more complex like major repairs. It may even start simple and unfold into something bigger as you go. For example, one of my early resolutions was to repaint the kitchen. To do so, I found I needed to start with some cleaning and repairs. Then, after repainting in a Blue Willow theme, I found I had to replace curtains and door knobs that now looked out of place. I even went a step further and made a matching clock to hang on the freshly done wall. It needs repainting again, but it was a very satisfying job when I finally finished it.
At any rate, the goal is to finish the task some time before the next lunar new year. As further incentive, I set aside a little money in an envelope near the paper kitchen god, and it stays there until the deed is done. Most of the time, I finish the task but leave the money anyway and add to it the next year. Still, I know I could use it once the job is done, and I have, on occasion, used it to further the work started by my Chinese New Year resolution.
The year of the snake slithered up and took me by surprise. This year, my resolution is only half done; so, I'm a little disappointed in myself. I had hoped to clean and reorganize two very cluttered rooms in the house, shifting storage to a more logical configuration and making better use of both spaces. Though I started on it early in the year, it was a bigger job than anticipated, and I only have one of the rooms in shape. Of course, there are reasons why finishing the job has been delayed. A construction project blocked one of the rooms for weeks and filled the other with extra displaced stuff. We've had a few family crises, and my own health issues and treatment made me useless for such a big project for three months of the year. It is what it is. It didn't get done.
So, what do you do when you fall short of your goal? You can have your moment of disappointment, but it's not going to change anything. It's time to pick up and start over. New years are about new beginnings, and that means a new resolution to reach my goal. Welcome, Year of the Snake!
Nevertheless, I do make Chinese New Year resolutions. Not logical. I know. But, there it is.
I've been celebrating Chinese New Year, the lunar new year, for many, many years now. I'm not Chinese, but the holiday appeals to me anyway. It tends to be closer to the cusp of Spring, so it seems a more appropriate start of a year. This alternate (and older) celebration is also more convenient because it lies beyond the hectic pace of the Winter holiday season. Usually, there's more time to prepare, and family or friends I invite to welcome the year with me are less likely to have other commitments.
Generally, I've held a dinner party with Chinese food, although I tend to be inclusive about the menu. I've served Chinese-American favourites like fortune cookies and even added Thai or Japanese dishes occasionally. I guess it's been more of a generally Asian feast. The point is to start the year the way you'd like to spend the year- in health, abundance, and happiness with the people you love.
Like other celebrations in our house, there's a mixture of traditional elements and new observations. During the party, we burn a paper kitchen god that I keep on the cabinet above the stove all year. Then, he's replaced with a freshly made incarnation, who will watch over us through the new year. Traditionally, this is done so that he can report to heaven about your family, and in some places, the elder image's lips are smeared with honey so he'll say sweet things about you. In my case, I just like the symbolism. One of the other traditional ways I welcome the new year is by cleaning. The idea is to move into the new year with a fresh start, so those who celebrate Chinese New Year generally devote some time to cleaning house before the festivities, just as they may also make efforts to pay off old debts. As the day approaches, I get the urge to straighten up and scrub the things that don't get addressed in the day to day cleaning. Unfortunately, this year, I've had little spare time in the pre-holiday week. Not only will we be low key today, but my cleaning urge has to be satisfied with relatively mundane dishes and laundry.
In many ways for me, Chinese New Year is a very domestic holiday. Which brings me back to Chinese New Year resolutions. As far as I know, this is not a traditional practice at all, but it seems to fall into the same symbolic bucket with the practice of cleaning. Every year, I think of a task that I want to accomplish with regard to my home. It might be simple like replacing the living room drapes, or more complex like major repairs. It may even start simple and unfold into something bigger as you go. For example, one of my early resolutions was to repaint the kitchen. To do so, I found I needed to start with some cleaning and repairs. Then, after repainting in a Blue Willow theme, I found I had to replace curtains and door knobs that now looked out of place. I even went a step further and made a matching clock to hang on the freshly done wall. It needs repainting again, but it was a very satisfying job when I finally finished it.
At any rate, the goal is to finish the task some time before the next lunar new year. As further incentive, I set aside a little money in an envelope near the paper kitchen god, and it stays there until the deed is done. Most of the time, I finish the task but leave the money anyway and add to it the next year. Still, I know I could use it once the job is done, and I have, on occasion, used it to further the work started by my Chinese New Year resolution.
The year of the snake slithered up and took me by surprise. This year, my resolution is only half done; so, I'm a little disappointed in myself. I had hoped to clean and reorganize two very cluttered rooms in the house, shifting storage to a more logical configuration and making better use of both spaces. Though I started on it early in the year, it was a bigger job than anticipated, and I only have one of the rooms in shape. Of course, there are reasons why finishing the job has been delayed. A construction project blocked one of the rooms for weeks and filled the other with extra displaced stuff. We've had a few family crises, and my own health issues and treatment made me useless for such a big project for three months of the year. It is what it is. It didn't get done.
So, what do you do when you fall short of your goal? You can have your moment of disappointment, but it's not going to change anything. It's time to pick up and start over. New years are about new beginnings, and that means a new resolution to reach my goal. Welcome, Year of the Snake!
Comments
Post a Comment