The first thing you notice during Lunar New Year isn’t the food.
It isn’t the fireworks.
It isn’t even the laughter.
It’s red.
Red lanterns swaying from doorways.
Red envelopes pressed into waiting hands.
Red paper cuttings glowing against windows.
Red banners brushed in gold, blessing the year ahead.
Red everywhere.
When I was younger, I once asked why everything had to be red.
An auntie smiled and said, “Because red scares away bad luck.”
I didn’t fully understand it then. But I liked the idea that a color could protect you. That something bright and bold could stand guard at your door.
🔥 Red Is Not a Quiet Color
There is an ancient legend about a monster named Nian who appeared at the beginning of each year, bringing fear and destruction. The villagers discovered Nian was afraid of loud noises, bright lights… and the color red.
So they didn’t hide.
They hung red everywhere.
They lit firecrackers.
They stayed awake through the night.
And the monster retreated.
Maybe Nian is only a story.
Or maybe it’s a metaphor.
Because every year brings its own monsters — fear, disappointment, uncertainty, loss. And maybe the lesson isn’t that fear disappears… but that courage can be louder.
Red says, I am still here.
Red says, You don’t get to win.
🧧 Hope Wrapped in Red
During Lunar New Year, elders give children red envelopes — hongbao — filled with money.
But it’s never really about the money.
It’s about blessing.
It’s a gentle declaration over someone’s future:
May you be protected.
May you prosper.
May this year bring you more than the last.
I remember holding those envelopes and feeling covered. Sent forward with intention.
Isn’t that what we all want at the start of a new year?
To feel covered.
🌙 A Sacred Reset
Lunar New Year isn’t just a celebration. It’s a reset.
Homes are cleaned from top to bottom — sweeping away the dust and misfortune of the previous year. But once the New Year begins, the brooms are put away.
You don’t sweep on New Year’s Day.
You don’t sweep away the blessing that just arrived.
There is something sacred in that pause.
Clear what no longer serves you.
Then protect what comes next.
Families gather around reunion dinners where every dish carries meaning — fish for abundance, dumplings for prosperity, noodles for long life, sweet rice balls for unity.
Nothing is random.
Everything speaks hope.
❤️ Red and Resilience
What moves me most now is this:
Red is defiant hope.
It is resilience dressed as celebration.
In my own faith, red is also the color of covering — of protection, of love poured out so fear doesn’t get the final word. And though Lunar New Year comes from a different tradition, the symbolism speaks to something universal.
We all long to begin again.
We all long to be protected.
We all long to believe the future holds blessing.
Maybe that’s why red is everywhere.
It refuses to shrink.
🐉 Begin in Red
Each Lunar New Year is marked by a zodiac animal — Dragon, Rabbit, Tiger — each carrying its own energy. But the deeper invitation is the same every year:
You survived the year behind you.
You are allowed to hope again.
You can step forward boldly.
Maybe this year, instead of entering quietly — hesitant and unsure — we enter in red.
Not pretending fear doesn’t exist.
But choosing courage anyway.
Choosing joy anyway.
Choosing faith anyway.
Because every ending carries the seed of a beginning.
And sometimes the most powerful thing you can do at the start of a new season…
is refuse to shrink.
Gong Xi Fa Cai — may your year be bold, protected, and overflowing with hope. 🧧✨
🍪 Clarity Cookies Reflection
Before you rush into the year ahead, pause for a moment.
✨ What “monsters” from last year are you ready to face boldly?
✨ What do you need to sweep away?
✨ What blessing do you need to protect once it arrives?
And maybe most importantly:
If this year had a color for you…
would you dare to choose red?
Take a breath.
Step forward boldly.
Begin again.
Clarity Cookies 
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