At this very moment, you’re probably packing your bags to head home, or getting the house ready to welcome the new year — caught up in the cheerful, joyful bustle of it all. But even amid all this busyness, Master Chi would like to briefly interrupt, to share with you what’s truly in my heart: this past year has been hard on you.
It’s thanks to this year of the Ox — a year that defies easy description — that so many people have come to understand: sometimes in life, simply holding your ground against the hidden currents and undertow is itself an extraordinary achievement. So please, don’t feel disappointed if this year passed without fanfare. And don’t feel regret if it was full of twists and setbacks. Regardless of whether you achieved anything or accomplished anything in 2021 — if you made it through safe and sound, free from illness and misfortune, then you have already done remarkably well. That alone is reason enough for us to embrace one another, to offer encouragement and blessings to each other.
And so, as the Spring Festival draws near, I hope you’ll pick up your bags to head home — and set down the burdens you carry inside. Take this precious holiday to be fully present with your family. Let yourself breathe, stretch out, and truly rest.
The coldest winter always gives way to warmth, just as life’s adversities always pass. Fortune and misfortune lean upon each other — cycles endure forever. So don’t put too much pressure on yourself. Lie down, rest well, and treat yourself with kindness.
How to be kind to yourself? Spend a little time talking with your family — say the caring, loving things you often leave unsaid. Spend a little time savoring the dishes you never had time to cook on busy, ordinary days. And spend a little time, in the quiet of a leisurely afternoon, reading a book or two in the slanting warmth of the winter sun. Unhurried, unfrantic — life at its gentle best. That is the greatest kindness you can offer yourself.
And I, Master Chi, will arrange my own Spring Festival in much the same way — simple and fulfilling. If time allows, I may even write a new year zodiac fortune guide for everyone.
Finally, rather than the usual well-wishes of years past, this year’s blessing from me to you comes down to just one thing, said from the bottom of my heart: I sincerely hope that in the coming new year, you may have peace and joy (平安喜乐).
平 — smooth sailing, free of hardship. 安 — stability, grounded in blessings. 喜 — joyful occasions, never far away. 乐 — laughter, a constant companion.
Until then, dear brothers and sisters — I’ll see you in the Year of the Tiger!