Before, Chinese New Year greetings felt like common phrases that we were taught to say (as our elders expected to hear) in order to receive a red envelope (of money). The more you say it to others, the more likely you’ll receive that red envelope. As a child, I enjoyed it because it felt like it’s raining money! But for the last decade or so, I never really cared for Chinese New Year because the whole concept of it felt like a scheme of making money. Even in TV shows like the CNY episode on Fresh Off the Boat was about Eddie wanting to get enough red packets to buy something. It felt superficial and the traditions felt increasingly meaningless. Suddenly people would show up to send you their greeting, pick up a red envelope and fade out the rest of the year. Service staff would put in extra energy towards your experience to get that blessing and red packet from you. If you give them a red packet, they’ll treat you better the rest of the year and give you priority access. All those exchanges felt like bribes and ways for people to continue chasing money and getting more attached to it. And the negative energy behind money grew even more me. Of course these may just be the things I see with the lessons in my life.
I started thinking about it deeply the last few days and wondered, WHY and I able to wish people happiness, good health, abundance on January 1 and even teach manifestation for the new year workshops but really, how different is it to integrate into CNY with the same heartfelt energy? So I decided to look deeper at the meaning behind these common CNY greetings in Chinese and I then some of them began to feel more in alignment, exactly what i would say in English on Jan 1, so my intention behind these phrases shifted into genuine blessings energy instead of obligatory phrases, or superficial ways to “make money”.
So from my heart to yours, I wish you the following this Lunar New Year:
新年快樂! (Happy New Year!)
身体健康! (Wishing you good health!)
心想事成! (Wishing that you will manifest your heart’s desires!)
And I’ve made one up on my own because I can’t seem to find one that already exists.
祝你每天更多愛，更多自愛，更靈氣!
(Wishing you more love, more self-love and more good energy every day!)
If you’ve felt a similar way about Chinese New Year before, I encourage you to create your own conscious Chinese New Year greetings and intentions too!
Sending love all around! <3 <3 <3
Corie
