"Sui Sui Ping An" (岁岁平安)

On New Year’s Day, I was in a great mood - something in the air made me feel like 2026 was full of possibilities, opportunities, and positivity.

I was getting ready for the day in my bathroom, and the kids tumbled in as they usually do. I said “Happy New Year!” and gave them big hugs.

“I’m almost done getting ready, so why don’t you go make your beds and start the year off right!”

I assumed they would go with Daddy to do said bed-making, but somehow that was not what happened. This happened instead:

After the loud CRASH, James came running back into my bathroom and said “Mommy, something terrible happened!”

I ran with him over to his room and saw the lamp in pieces.

Honestly, I wanted to cry. I’m not sure why, it’s just a lamp. But the irony of starting the new year off at 8:04am, breaking a lamp, felt - well - like bad luck. An omen of sorts to tell me, sorry Eurie, this is NOT going to be a good year after all. It’s going to be a bunch of broken pieces.

My blood rose quickly. I ran downstairs to get a broom and figure out what to do with this mess. James of course burst into tears after the shock wore off. In the privacy of the cleaning closet, I let out a big ARGH!!!! And then, I took a breath, and said - oh well, that’s life. Just when you had your heart on things going well, smash, broken pieces.

We were able to rally and the rest of the day went fine. I made my mother’s New Year’s soup (traditional tteokguk) for family and dear friends who were visiting from out of town, and on went the first day of the year. A mix of highs and lows, as is life.

I told this story to a friend a couple of days later, and she immediately said - ah, that’s good luck!!!

“What???!!!” I replied.

Yes! "Sui Sui Ping An" (岁岁平安) is a common Chinese New Year greeting meaning "May you have peace year after year," specifically used when something breaks, as "Sui" (岁, year) sounds like "Sui" (碎, broken) to turn a mishap into a blessing for the coming year.

So leave it to the Chinese to always have a way of turning misfortune into good luck.

I was somewhat comforted by this phrase, and smile in knowing that whether good luck or bad, it’s always in how to handle the ups and downs that really determine how life will be.

In the end, what’s a little broken ceramic lamp?

I told James, “Don’t worry, we will put it back together and it’ll be more beautiful than before.”

[Enter chatGPT search for “Kintsugi class in San Francisco”]