Reflecting on past years and past posts, it is clear that January is not a time when I make resolutions, begin the new year with gusto, start a new fitness regime or any routine at all really… January is not for resolutions. And definitely not a time when I manage to keep myself or my family healthy. And here we are again. We are just emerging from several weeks of illness and trying to find our stride. It isn’t even January anymore and I am still trying to get a grip on 2018. 

This year so far feels like a blur of days on the couch fighting fevers, anxieties about school (both mine and the boys’), phone calls and emails about things like car repairs and taxes, kids’ birthday parties, washing (sheets, clothes, hands, dishes) and the never completed task of grocery shopping. I have no sense of having made a plan or established a rhythm for the days and weeks. We just lurch from one thing to the next and hope that we will not arrive too late or too woefully unprepared for whatever happens next.

This week we  happened upon International Pancake Day at our favorite breakfast place, which specializes in pancakes. But that day was of course also Shrove Tuesday, the final day for feasting, eating rich foods, and indulging in pancakes before living more modestly for Lent. And then followed a rather ironic Ash Wednesday Valentine’s Day, the day for atoning and turning over a new leaf and of course giving up chocolate; and at the same time the day for celebrating love and connections and eating chocolatey treats. To me, it makes sense to start a new year NOW.  Not before all this, in a daze from Christmas and over eating drinking consuming entertaining… Not while trying to recover and get kids into some sort of routine and figure out a way to detox and change all the sheets and wash all the pans and eat all the leftovers… NOW is a much better time to celebrate new beginnings – there is a promise of Spring in the longer days, and we can look forward to new growth, new life, new light… Valentine’s day has reminded us to love ourselves, appreciate our family and friends, and to be kind and loving… We have survived 6 weeks of germs, flus, fevers and come out the other side. It is no longer dark when we wake up for school, or no longer too hot to sleep at night, for those anxiously awaiting the cooler days of autumn and the rains of winter. 

This week, in between recovering from fevers, the craziness of Valentine’s day, a big celebration at school, and a sprinkling of snow, it suddenly hit me. It seems obvious now really…  The time to celebrate new year is NOW. And of course those who follow the lunar calendar are doing just that. It makes sense, doesn’t it, since the lunar calendar predates ours by thousands of years. So let’s don red, eat dumplings, join a parade and make some noise!

It is indeed a time to celebrate new beginnings! Happy Chinese New Year! Gung hay fat choy!