Where Has the New Year Spirit Gone?
When I was a child, the New Year spirit was so thick you could almost touch it. As soon as the twelfth lunar month arrived, every household would start bustling with activity—steaming buns, frying meatballs, stewing meat, and pasting Spring Festival couplets. The air was filled with the aroma of various delicacies. Children, dressed in new clothes and with pockets full of lucky money, would run around the village, setting off firecrackers, watching lion dances, and enjoying candied haws. It was pure joy. Back then, the New Year spirit was a tangible experience, something that filled our hearts with excitement and anticipation.
Nowadays, the New Year spirit seems to have faded. Many people lament that the Spring Festival has become less meaningful. Red lanterns are hung early in shopping malls, and festive music loops endlessly in supermarkets, but something feels missing. The New Year's Eve dinner is no longer homemade but ordered as takeout. The sound of firecrackers has diminished, replaced by constant notifications of New Year greetings on our phones. When relatives and friends gather, conversations often revolve around work, housing, and children's education. The New Year spirit has become more of a formality, a ritual, rather than a heartfelt joy.
Why Has the New Year Spirit Faded?
Some say it’s because living conditions have improved. We can eat whatever we want and wear whatever we like throughout the year, so the Spring Festival no longer holds the same sense of anticipation. Others argue that urbanization has accelerated, and people now live in high-rise buildings, reducing interactions between neighbors and diminishing the sense of community. Still, others believe that modern life is too stressful, and the Spring Festival has become another burden—visiting relatives, giving gifts, and handing out red envelopes can be exhausting.
These points are valid, but I think the main reason the New Year spirit has faded is that we’ve grown up. As children, we were the protagonists of the Spring Festival. Our parents prepared new clothes and shoes for us, our grandparents gave us lucky money, and our uncles and aunts took us to temple fairs. All we had to do was enjoy the festivities without a care in the world. Back then, the New Year spirit was created by our parents, woven with their hard work and love.
Now, we’ve become the adults, playing the roles our parents once did. We prepare the New Year's Eve dinner, give lucky money to the children, and organize visits to relatives and friends. We’re no longer just the receivers of joy but the givers. The happiness hasn’t disappeared; it has simply shifted to the next generation. Seeing the smiles on our children’s faces brings us comfort, but that pure, carefree joy seems to have slipped away.
What Else Has Changed?
The New Year spirit has also faded because our lives have become faster-paced. As children, time moved slowly, and the Spring Festival felt like a long, drawn-out celebration. From the twelfth lunar month onward, each day had its own rituals. Now, our lives are packed with work, studies, and social obligations. The Spring Festival has become a short holiday, or even another form of busyness. Many people work overtime on New Year’s Eve, rush back to their hometowns on the first day of the New Year, and hurry back to the city by the fifth day. In this rush, the New Year spirit has been diluted.
The New Year spirit has also faded because our lifestyles have changed. As children, the Spring Festival meant gathering around the table with family, enjoying the New Year's Eve dinner, watching the Spring Festival Gala, and staying up late to welcome the New Year. Now, smartphones have become an integral part of our lives. At the dinner table, everyone is busy scrolling through social media, grabbing virtual red envelopes, and watching short videos. Communication between people has decreased, and the distance between hearts has grown. In this virtual world, the New Year spirit has become blurred.
The New Year spirit has also faded because our mindset has changed. As children, we looked forward to the Spring Festival with great anticipation, believing it to be the most wonderful time of the year. Now, we approach the holiday with anxiety, worrying about relatives pressuring us to get married or have children, comparing ourselves to friends, and fretting over our careers and lives. In this state of anxiety, the New Year spirit has become a burden.
Has the New Year Spirit Really Disappeared?
In truth, the New Year spirit hasn’t disappeared; it has simply taken on a different form. In the past, it was a blend of material scarcity and spiritual richness. Today, it’s a mix of material abundance and spiritual exhaustion. When we reminisce about the New Year spirit of our childhood, we’re really longing for that simple, pure way of life. When we lament its fading, we’re mourning the fact that we’ve grown up, that our responsibilities have grown heavier, and that our worries have multiplied.
If only we could stay children forever. Then, we could continue to revel in the joy of the Spring Festival without worrying about life or the future. But the reality is, we can’t go back, nor can we escape growing up. What we can do is find our own version of the New Year spirit amidst our busy lives. Maybe it’s making dumplings with family, watching a movie with friends, or sitting quietly alone, reminiscing about the good old days.
The New Year spirit doesn’t have to be loud or bustling; it can also be quiet and warm. As long as we take the time to feel it, the New Year spirit is still there. It’s hidden in every blessing, every reunion dinner, and every burst of laughter during gatherings. The New Year spirit may have faded because we’ve been too busy to stop and appreciate it.
So, this Spring Festival, why not put down your phone, turn off your computer, and have a good chat with your family or spend quality time with your friends? You might just discover that the New Year spirit has been there all along—we just haven’t noticed it.