Happy New Year
And what a year it has been.
If you have had the year you thought you would at the start of 2020, I would like to know more about your psychic abilities and ask you for some lottery numbers. The rest of us — and I think this is putting it gently — were not expecting this. This year has often felt like a rollercoaster that only goes down. Plans were put on hold, opportunities lost, dreams deferred. The past nine months have been characterized by a general malaise and the sense that nothing is as it should be. I think we’re all ready to put 2020 behind us. But in the face of all the unexpected loss we’ve been through, ushering in a new year brings complicated feelings.
The start of the new year has long been seen as a time of possibility. Thousands of years ago, the Babylonians would make promises at the new year in order to earn favor with the gods and start the year off on the right foot. Now we make promises to ourselves to read more books or order less takeout. New year's resolutions are an ancient tradition, but when faced with how uncertain life can truly be, making plans can feel a little absurd.
Forget resolutions, this year we need some magic.
Whether it’s blowing out birthday candles, throwing pennies in a fountain, or just squeezing your eyes shut tight and yearning for something to happen, we all make wishes throughout our lives. Whether or not you believe they’ll come true, that little act of hope has power. You can call it wishing or “setting an intention”, putting a hope out into the universe is its own kind of magic spell!
Flying Wish Paper
If you don’t know what flying wish paper is, they’re pieces of paper you write a wish on, roll up into a cylinder, light on fire, and then watch them float up into the air, carrying your wish into the sky as they burn. And they’re your new favorite New Year’s tradition!
Here’s how to safely light your wish and watch it rise:
STEP 1: Write your wish on the paper.
STEP 2: Crumple the paper loosely in your hand to add some structure. Smooth it back out and roll into a tube with about a 1” diameter (doesn’t have to be exact).
STEP 3: Time to play with fire (safely)! Set your tube vertically on a heat safe plate. Note: Make sure you have at least 7 feet of clearance above the plate - your wish is going to fly into the air! Please don’t burn your house down on New Years Eve; that would be so 2020 of you. Not the vibe we’re trying to bring to 2021. To be extra safe we recommend burning outside.
STEP 4: Light any spot of the top of the upright tube.
STEP 5: Watch the paper burn for roughly a minute. It will feel like it’s not doing anything, but give it a moment. Soon your wish will rise into the air!
Have fun releasing your wish into the universe and harnessing the magic and hope that comes with each new year!
On behalf of everyone here at Foursided, we want to thank you for supporting us through this crazy year. We could not have gotten through it without the outpouring of love from our customers and our community — your respect for our new safety protocols, your willingness to wait in line when necessary, your online orders and in store visits. All of this made an otherwise rough time bearable. We love you, Chicago.
Our wish is for you to have a safe and happy holiday season! Whatever the new year brings, we hope to see you then.
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