fang xia

 Happy New Year! Happy new moon!  (The above is not it, BTW.) By the Chinese (and others') calendar, this is the Year of the Metal Ox. Last year was the Year of the Rat. Big surprise.

Anyway, this puts me in mind of something my sister Chang Ping taught me last week. I asked her if she was still mad at an ex boyfriend, and she said, "Fang xia!" I did not know what that meant, and she said it literally meant put it down. To take something and put it down. Basically, let it go.

She said at our age, it is time to fang xia everything: anger, concern about beauty, desire for wealth—everything. All that striving, all that controlling, all those emotions of youth are over. Fang xia. Let it go. 

Word for the new year: Fang xia.