Welcome to the Year of the Wood Monkey


Wherein Our Heroine Contemplates A Fresh Start.
Losar, the Tibetan New Year, started on Saturday. We have Buddhist neighbors who informed me of this, and of its significance.

From the little I have been told and read, it seems like Losar represents the spring cleaning of the soul - not only are rituals performed to celebrate and encourage harmony and prosperity in the New Year, but apologies are made, good deeds are done and people try to start off on the right foot in every way. One passage regarding the activities surrounding Losar describes:

"The celebration of Losar begins in the days leading up to the actual new year's day. During this time, debts are settled, quarrels are resolved, new clothes are made, houses and monasteries alike are cleaned from top to bottom, walls are painted, stone steps are rubbed and oiled, and dozens and dozens of kapse (fried Losar twists) are made. The family's best carpets and finest silver are brought out. Good luck signs are placed in strategic locations. Butter lamps are lit. Flowers are placed on altars. Piles of juniper, cedar, rhododendron, and other fragrant branches are prepared for burning as incense."

This sounds about right to me: a literal and psychic house-cleaning seem to be the cure for what ails me. "Get your house in order," is the advice before embarking on a big endeavor. Our house normally feels like a happy haven: recent troubles have made it feel more like a tense, unhappy place.

So, pardon me while I celebrate my own belated Losar: I intend to clean, pay bills, throw the windows wide and let fresh, clean air run through our stuffy rooms. Let there be flowers, music, and sunshine. Today I will lose that worried frown that cannot help me in any new endeavor - such as finding a new job.
Posted: Monday - February 23, 2004 at 07:34 AM         | |

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