For example, when cleaning the house for Tết, if I find unnecessary items kept year after year because ‘we might use them someday,’ yet left unused for a billion years, I sell them off or give them away. I reduce belongings and tools each time I clean like this. Less clutter, more focused energy. Happy.
The past is the same: simplify it, let some of it go, move on. With the new year, “clear out” all that troubling backlog. If you can pick it up, you can put it down. The souln around me is fresher, with no more negative energy disturbing me. Happy.
Relationships are the same: simplify them. If any are not genuine or sincere, lack appreciation and gratitude, or do not share your core values, move them further out into the “outer circle.” Reorganize them: which are positive, which should be “let go,” to lighten your mind and heart, because relationships need time. If a group is heavy on appearances and vanity, where people only network and make acquaintances, and even after an eternity of meeting all they do is shout “one, two, three, cheers,” cut back and make time for values with depth that benefit yourself and society. After simplifying all your relationships, remember to build a relationship with yourself. Happy.
At Tết, returning to basic values and simplicity brings great happiness. But once we move away from simplicity, refuse to simplify and prioritize appearances, Tết becomes a source of worry, distress and exhaustion. Then the holiday passes and we feel only… worn out, without any happiness or joy.
So Tết is a time for Minimalism. A Minimalist Tết. Happy.
