Dear EDST Members: Staff, Students, and Faculty…
The Lunar New Year begins with the rising of the second new moon after the winter solstice (21 December). Its celebration dates back to over 34 centuries, in China and large parts of Asia, at least. Its celebration is steeped in many stories of renewal, good fortune, bravery, and fending off evil from one’s home and community. More than anything, the celebration connects the moon’s cycle with the coming together of friends, families, and communities.
The celebration of the Lunar New Year comes at an appropriate moment to capture humanity’s yearnings and efforts to fend off the persisting COVID-19 pandemic. The fulfillment of these yearnings requires from each one of us the bravery and determination of a Tiger yet also the good fortune of our collective efforts in coming together in concerted and successful ways.
Let us welcome the Lunar New Year, and the Year of the Tiger, in a determined spirit of joint efforts for good fortune and bravery in fending off the pandemic and coming together face to face, in community, once again.
Best wishes to each and all,
André
