Having been in Taiwan on Chinese New Year, I wasn’t sure what to expect here in NYC. Was I going to hear explosions all night? See fireworks? Dancing dragon puppets?
Turns out it’s a little more tame here! I did get to learn some new things, though, in talking with the community and putting up some decorations.
There is a tradition here to clean everything on New Year’s Eve. Out with the old! Then, on New Years, you shouldn’t clean anything. In a lot of ways, our traditions and even our superstitions mirror our values. Even though the end of the year is arbitrary (hence we have more than one New Years!) it’s still common in many cultures and religions to see it as a time of letting go of or resolving the troubles of the past, and setting good intentions for the future.
Even if we have a mess today, it’s the mess of a New Year! Let’s start the year off with some contentment. It’s OUR mess, after all. Let’s just appreciate it for what it is. As goes the popular saying these days – “No Mud, No Lotus.”