Chinese New Year

I was a fool to think that keeping up with this blog while in college would be an easy feat.

I apologize, and will move right along having said that.

This past Friday was the Chinese New Year, and, having celebrated equipped with Chinese food and Mulan, I feel confident to take on this Year of the Horse.

I love Chinese food.

(This saying is actually a song by Alison Gold…take it at face value if you will…)

Ignoring that interesting song, I really was too excited to sit down with friends on the floor of a dorm room and pig out to chicken fried rice and spring rolls. But, my favorite part (apart from the eating) of Chinese food is the fortune cookies.

Now, I don’t like eating the actual cookies. People say it’s bad luck to open them and not eat them, but.. I haven’t encountered a great misfortune yet!

I know it sounds corny, but I just love the anticipation of opening a fortune to see what it will say.

I don’t believe in the power of fortune telling, I know it’s all a hoax, but it’s fun to see if it will actually come true or not. More often than not it doesn’t come true, but it’s exciting to hope.

People love fortune cookies so much because they give us an answer. They may not give us a correct answer, an important answer, an answer to a question we want to know or an answer that we like…but it still tells us something. When most of us spend our lives searching for something, being given an answer on a whim is slightly reassuring. It allows us to close our eyes and picture, “Yes, I can see myself doing this in the near future.”

We like that reassurance.

I mean, the reason fortune tellers and palm readers are so popular is because people want to know. We have an inherent desire to know about the world, about others’ lives, about our own life. It only makes sense that we be prepared for anything, but when you’re absolutely sure something could happen, it’s easier to be prepared.

Fortune cookies are fun. They’re a lighthearted way to relieve some tension of this world, even if they aren’t always true. But I’m slowly learning… it’s okay to not know everything.

This Chinese New Year, I’m going to stop trying to figure everything out before it happens. I’m going to not be in control all the time, not worry as much about how everything will work out, and open less fortune cookies.

Quite frankly, I’m tired of being on the cusp of anticipating every little thing. So this Year of the Horse, I’m going to act more like a horse (solely in my mind) and let go of controlling my and others’ lives.

I implore you to do the same.

That fortune cookie won’t decide my life, anyway.

 

P.S. If you do enjoy the taste of the fortune cookie, try it dipped in chocolate. Those kind I highly recommend.