Manila, 2 February 2022 — Why it matters how you celebrate the New Year.

Story

It happened this week. Many people around the world — reportedly as many as 2 billion — started celebrating the Lunar New Year, or Chinese New Year, or Spring Festival as it’s called in Vietnam and China. The practice may have originated as far back as in China’s Shang Dynasty, three to four thousand years ago. During this festival, the joyous celebrations invariably include eating together. 

For most people, however, the start of the New Year falls on the first of January, in a tradition started by the people of Rome some two thousand years ago and codified in the solar Julian and Gregorian calendars. While now adopted as the main international and business calendar, it is by no means the only one. In India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Cambodia, people enjoy their new year celebrations at various times during March and April, following their own lunisolar calendars. And there are many more.

What is clear in this story is that people around the world like to find meaning in observing a natural cycle of life that repeats every year, regardless of how exactly the timing of the celebration is determined with a solar or a lunar calendar. My focus, indeed, is not about the timing of new year celebrations, but rather in what spirit they are celebrated, and what we can learn from that. 

Challenge

From looking around, we can observe that people have different ideas about celebrating the new year, informed by the culture that they identify with. For the purpose of our exploration, I propose that we distinguish two ways: the International (or Western) Way and the Local (or Asian or Eastern) Way. From my experience living and working in Asia and coaching leaders from all continents, I have seen how these two ways can play out. 

In the International Way, I have seen how many people tend to feel exhausted at the end of the year, and then get busy planning for the new year and making new year’s resolutions, while not looking forward to the annual performance reviews that are commonly held in January. There is a sense of the year as something to be planned and mastered, somewhat like how Western societies have attempted for several centuries to conquer and control nature (and their own natures and performance). This focus on staying in control of life when moving into the new year can bring elation as well as stress.

On the other hand, in the Local Way, I have seen how people tend to celebrate a welcome to the new year with a sense of gratitude for being part of humanity, society, and nature around them, respecting its natural cycles, and receiving its blessings, without an obvious need to establish and exert control. In this way, if anything needs to be mastered, it is how to adapt to the inevitable changes that life brings. The celebration in the Local Way tends, therefore, to be less stressful and more about appreciating life as a dance enjoyed together with others, and experiencing to be a part of the changing rhythms of our world. 

Question

In comparing the International Way and the Local Way, I was reminded of YinYang, the concept that has been regarded by Chinese philosophers over thousands of years as a fundamental operating principle for how the universe works — with us humans regarded as being an integral part of that universe. The Yin pole might represent the receptive and appreciative nature of the Local Way, whereas the Yang pole, always busy projecting and asserting itself, might resemble how we like to celebrate in the International Way.

More and more, the leaders I coach will see themselves as becoming global citizens in our 21st century, even as travel restrictions and their desire to cut emissions might reduce their international travel. From the perspective of global citizens, we are no longer limited to celebrating the new year in one of the two ways. Rather, we can choose to embrace both the Local Way and the International Way, as we see fit. And why not celebrate the start of a new year several times, on January first, and then the Lunar New year, and also another Local New Year celebration that you culturally identify with? That’s what I like to do.

While most of our workplaces follow the timing and the culture that comes with the International Way, it’s important to see that this is not the only or the best way of celebrating the start of a new year. For Chinese philosophers, YinYang cannot be separated. Rather, these two poles always manifest together. When we attempt to separate the two and keep going for the Yang experience, we risk feeling stressed out and being caught in an endless race of meeting impossible expectations. This is all too common in many lives and workplaces today. My question for you this week is, therefore, how you are celebrating life’s rhythms, including New Year, in the Local Way, feeling receptive to the changes that are occurring where you are, and grateful just to be part of it all?