The Year of the Wood Snake is Coming...

Ovidia--every other Tuesday

Is anyone else finding it difficult to look forward to this new year?

This is normally my favourite time of year--cool rainy weather with occasional thunderstorms (rain is predicted for the whole of next week here in Singapore) and I really love the rain.

People are back at work and children back in school and the island is gearing up for the Chinese New Year.
This is a much bigger event (‘bigger’ as in more offices, stores and restaurants close for the duration) than Christmas or New Year, and there are decorations, special offers and sweet treats everywhere.

But this year it feels like there’s more apprehension than anticipation in the air.

‘Next year is going to be terrible. So terrible,’ one of my neighbours told me the other day.

‘What’s going to be terrible?’ I asked.

‘Everything!’ He said. ‘Look at America! Look at Israel! Look at Russia! Just looking for things to attack! And you know what? It’s just going to get worse! You know what year it's going to be, right? So wait and see!’

I kind of know what he means.

The coming year, according to the Chinese zodiac, will be the Year of the Wood Snake.

The year of the Wood Snake has traditionally been marked by warlords assessing their weapons caches.

The last time the Wood Snake appeared in the zodiac cycle was in 1965—the year American soldiers landed in Vietnam to start the Vietnam War.

Right now I’m almost afraid to plan or hope for anything beyond good health and survival in the coming year!

But thinking like my neighbour doesn’t do any good, does it? I guess at least he can say, ‘See? I told you!’ if things go badly.

But I would still rather hope and be disappointed than not hope at all!

On the bright side, snakes symbolise unostentatious wisdom, transformation and healing, meaning the snake year is a good time for growth and reinvention, just as a snake sheds its old skin and emerges anew.

Combined with the Wood element of assessing, calculating and building, embracing the Wood Snake Year might mean remembering that in times of uncertainty, just sustaining and focusing on recovery and renewal might be counted a victory.

And on the bright side, in 1965 The Sound of Music premiered and Richard Feynman won the Nobel Prize for Physics, so things weren't all bad!

I’m reading Salman Rushdie’s Knife right now, and the courage in his decision to live fully after that horrific attack is a lesson I hope to remember; resilience isn’t just about surviving, we have to evolve into our new selves and bodies.

I realise that for me, it all comes down to not knowing what to expect in our near future.

Was it Einstein who said, "Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results"?

And also,

"Naïveté is doing the same thing over and over, and always expecting the same result"

The problem it seems, is in the expectations. So maybe not knowing what to expect is a good thing.

I guess all this is to explain why I don't have any great plans or resolutions for the coming year. I'll try to write three hours a day and work out three hours a week and see how things go.

But also, I want to remember Tahar Djaout, who said, “Silence is death, and you, if you talk, you die, and if you remain silent, you die. So, speak out and die.”

Tahar Djaout was an Algerian journalist, poet, and fiction writer who was born 11th January 1954. He would have turned 71 years old this year, had he not been assassinated in 1993.

Part of me feels that just because I'm still alive, the least I can do is say this small thing: remember this man who cried out for human rights in his novels and is no longer here to do so.

And if you're reading this, may you have a good, strong, safe year. May we all hold on to hope and support each other.