Jane's Pocket Change: The Rooster as Symbol
The Chinese New Year - The Year of the Rooster - begins this Saturday (January 28) and lasts until February 15, 2018.
The Chinese New Year - The Year of the Rooster - begins this Saturday (January 28) and lasts until February 15, 2018.
Also known as the Spring Festival, the Chinese New Year is marked by the lunisolar Chinese calendar so the date changes from year to year. Here at CSW we look forward to celebrating the Chinese New Year with our students at a special boarding dinner and program this Sunday evening.
Also known as the Spring Festival, the Chinese New Year is marked by the lunisolar Chinese calendar so the date changes from year to year. Here at CSW we look forward to celebrating the Chinese New Year with our students at a special boarding dinner and program this Sunday evening.
For those of us who already celebrated New Year’s on January 1, it is a gift to have the opportunity to celebrate a new year again. And, in the light of this past Saturday’s marches focused on civil rights, for all for us to harness our energy together as a new year begins all around the world seems like a great opportunity. The marches signaled solidarity among all walks of people - a solidarity and support for people’s rights, especially the rights of women, LGBQ+ people and those around the world who feel marginalized. Beginning a new year with inter-connections across the lines of political party, age, gender and sexuality is definitely a good thing in my mind.
The Rooster, the zodiac sign that marks this year, is allegedly a creature that guides itself by instinct, moving forward with ideas rather than dwelling or worrying. This way of life comes with great effort since a rooster’s basic urge is to overthink. According to one resource I consulted about the Chinese Zodiac, if the rooster is willing and able to show trust, they can typically overcome this urge to overthink. (link here)
From my own experience, I have found that balancing instinct with the consideration and thinking it often requires to make a decision can be hard, so the rooster as a symbol of this tension resonates with me, especially given this particular new year. Happy New Year to all of our CSW families who will celebrate this Saturday and beyond, and may we give consideration to the rooster’s exemplary use of instinct and natural caution in the coming months.
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Pocket Change is a web diary written by Jane Moulding, head of school.
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Pocket Change is a web diary written by Jane Moulding, head of school.
The Cambridge School of Weston is a progressive high school for day and boarding students in grades 9–12 and PG. CSW's mission is to provide a progressive education that emphasizes deep learning, meaningful relationships, and a dynamic program that inspires students to discover who they are and what their contribution is to their school, their community and the world.