Day 8.5: Lanterns

Anyone who has been to the bazaars with us can tell you that I'm obsessed with lanterns.

Maybe it's the remnants of the memory of the fight scene in Mulan mixed with my mental picture of Asia. Maybe it's the fact that there are just so many and the thousands of colors only contribute to the vibrant, festival atmosphere of the Bazaar.

Maybe they're just pretty.

In Thailand these lanterns (well- actual lanterns, ones with fire) are seen as a means of rebirth of sorts. On Yi Peng, the Lanna (northern Thai) people release thousands of lanterns into the sky as a symbol of wishing away their bad luck and misfortune into the air. It's a way of clearing one's karmic slate and choosing to move past the old and embrace whatever new is headed your way.

Alternatively, releasing a lantern can be seen as a way to make merit to Buddha. Making merit to Buddha can be done through tasks that pay tribute to Buddha through the virtue of mindfulness. Being "mindful" in the Buddhist tradition means to pay ardent attention to yourself and your surroundings and to be aware of yourself and others. But it also covers a lot of other subjects too; Because "mindfulness" is a translation of an older Pali term, the Buddhist idea of mindfulness also covers the ideas of inspection, recollection, and retention.

So, I have a soft spot for these little lanterns. Having the mental image of these little lights floating off into the night as a symbol of the old making way for the new is an undeniably resonant idea for me. It's no secret that I feel an odd sort of pre-nostalgia for my upcoming final year of college, and that the idea of 'old' and 'new' has been tumbling about in my mind recently. There is a lot of "old" that I've let go of since starting off as a freshman, but I'm not feeling 100% "new" yet. That being said, I feel like this trip has given me a lot of material to meditate on as I work towards being the person I want to be. Maybe I just needed some time by myself to light the way.