Annie Tsai

Happy Lunar New Year – the Year of the Dragon – to all who celebrated over the weekend. Every year, our family traditions include all of the locals coming together to hand make a LOT of dumplings, share a meal with noodles symbolizing long life and a table full of other dishes representing a long list of other homonyms and superstitions. 

The traditions surrounding Lunar New Year don’t stop with the food. You may have noticed many of your East Asian friends furiously cleaning heading into the weekend – that’s because you clean before the New Year, and then on New Year Day, cleaning is considered bad luck. There are always fresh flowers, sweets, and fruit – as a kid I always loved seeing the big piles of yummy oranges. You’re supposed to wear bright colors – red, pink, yellow – and something new. And of course, we give out red envelopes. 

If you’re not familiar with the red envelope tradition, you’re probably wondering – Who gets them? What are they for? Traditionally unmarried adults and children receive red envelopes with a bit of money inside to represent safety and good luck heading into the new year, and once you marry, you are now responsible for finding fresh bills every January (which is surprisingly difficult). These days, even coworkers and friends will hand out red envelopes as a sign of regard and celebration for the new year.

If you are going to hand out red envelopes, always use crisp bills in any denomination but never adding up to having a number 4 in the sum which sounds like “death” in Chinese. Make sure any monetary gift is an even number for all celebratory events, and extra points if that sum starts or ends in the number 8.

A dragon year is of particular importance in many East Asian cultures as the animal represents wisdom, dignity, fertility, power, and auspiciousness. In the Chinese Zodiac, 2024 is extra special as it is the Year of Wood Dragon which brings evolution, improvement, and abundance. The Wood Dragon graces us with its presence only once every 60 years, and this powerful combination is special for many reasons: 

• Strength coupled with kindness – Dragons are known for their strength, but the wood element augments this characteristic and a gentler and more compassionate dragon appears.
  
• Harmony and balance – The introduction of compassion and kindness with the wood element reminds us that in everything that we do, harmony and balance is possible and desired.
  
• Creativity and growth – This is a big year for ideas, innovation, and personal development!
  
• Enhancing the rest of the zodiac – The Wood Dragon has a positive impact on all of the zodiac animals by helping further enhance all of their strengths.
  
• Opportunities and challenges – With growth can come the need to adapt and evolve, and with the Wood Dragon bringing a high growth year, be on the lookout for active ways to proactively adapt and address challenges head on.

The year is looking to be quite a special one, thanks to the Wood Dragon. 

As I was thinking about what to write for this week’s column, I thought it seemed necessary to at least mention Valentine’s Day given it’s just a few days away. Less the commercial aspects of the day, but perhaps more of a reminder we all still need to feel valued, cared for, and well, loved. My mind for some reason gravitated towards Love Languages as an easy framework for understanding how we process behaviors as love.

But in researching Dr. Gary Chapman’s methodology and findings from the 1992 publication The Five Love Languages: The Secret to Love That Lasts, I went deep down the rabbit hole and eventually found myself vehemently disagreeing with the author’s conclusions. We are so much more than five anything. 

Our reality is this – over simplifying one’s needs from their loved ones serves to dull how multifaceted humans are. We seldom need only one type of affection from our partners in order to feel fulfilled in that partnership. In fact, it’s the complexity of humans that is what I would argue makes each one of us so special. Just like the grounding wood element augments the powerful dragon in a variety of ways, how we choose to celebrate and challenge each other has a unique impact from day to day. Maybe in the end, it’s not the sameness of a Love Language that we need, but rather the natural variety and complexity each day brings that keeps the sparks going. 

Gong Xi Fa Cai – wishing you health, happiness, prosperity, and love to you and yours in the Year of the Wood Dragon.