A Beginning, an Ending, and a Bridge

Today is the Lantern Festival. It arrives not at the beginning, but at the soft close of New Year’s closing.

The cats understand the timing perfectly. As they do everything.

The Lantern Festival is not about becoming brighter. It’s about letting the right things glow. Like the eyes of a cat.

Have you prepared a lantern to mark the occasion? If you haven’t, you can simply imagine setting the lantern afloat in a body of water tonight. Not to send wishes into the future, but to honor what has carried you this far.

Let go the past—set free the year that asked too much;

A worry that you’ve carried too far;

A version of yourself that tried too hard.

The cats won’t rush you. They’ll sit with you as the lantern drifts away.

May you step into a bright future, may you have peace and forgiveness and unity.

May your past illuminate your future without singeing your whiskers.

Happy Lantern Festival!