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.
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Thanks very much for your hopeful message, Ovidia. You are not the only one fighting a sense of dread in these last days before Trump's inauguration. I don't want to hide my head in the sand, nor are you recommending that we do so. Still, I'm trying to combine gratitude for what's good in MY life with the hope that things won't be as terrible for much of the world in 2025 as I fear they will. Pollyanna-ish? I don't know.
ReplyDeleteWell--I'd rather be Pollyanna than Anna Paulina, wouldn't you? Hang in there dear Kim and keep celebrating and being grateful for the good and beautiful and true things in our lives. Good luck. I'll pollyanna with you--she survived some tough stuff and thrived!
DeleteAgain, your kindness, wisdom and vision are a reminder to stay in balance, casting your eye on the horizon, to the sky, to stay true. Xie xie! wish i was in the Lion City for the annual delights of the New Year!
ReplyDeleteWish you could be here too! Alas, this year might be a slightly more damp affair. Take care and be well!
DeleteFrom AA: thank you so much for this, Ovidia. I was born in 1941, the year of the snake. I’m not sure what it means when my birth year symbol comes around again. My friend Yuan once told me that people born in the year of the snake, even though it sounds ominous to us westerners, is not necessarily bad in the Chinese interpretation.
ReplyDeleteI have always just heard it as the year of the Snake. Is every year of the snake, a wood snake, or what does the species of snake change from year to year?
The only thing I know to do is to keep making art. Keep practicing art. It is the only thing that has never hurt me, cheated on me, ran away, or attacked me. I am making noises to leave the USA as soon as possible. We in the USA are so 1935 Germany that I am very afraid. Europe is out of the question as it is full on Nazi. Berlin reports that their government body has more Nazi's now than pre hitler. It is impossible for me to comprehend that my Jewish last names could get me killed as a atheist. But where to go? Mexico was more safe than the USA and still is. They appreciate art more. I have to wait see what the orange creature does with Mexico before returning. Mexico citizens are getting to be very resentful at USA people moving there. We are blamed for higher rent when the Mexicans don't mind taking in the money. The 8 years I was there the govt employees were getting very nasty in mexico. I never ever dreamed my final years would have me feeling like a boxed rat. That all we fought for in the 60-s and on are gone. That all they have to do is raid the social security fund, shut down the web, and seize the banks, and I am on the street. There are BRICS people in those positions already waiting for their command. I met several Russians in Mexico who were just on standby waiting the signal to go to the US. We were just radical frogs being slow boiled while the wolves grinned at each other and drooled seeing what fools we were. What is funny is this. Being Lenape, a native american tribe, we the lenape were accused in hindsight of being too nice and not stopping the europeans from first contact. We were kind and fed them. Seems like that kindness by not being able to ascertain true fleeing immigrants from 6 year contracted deliberately systematically infused workers who are often slaves. We were just too nice. An old Jewish saying, Don't be so open minded that your head is a like a colander and your brains drain out the holes.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for this, Ovidia. I am with you in the wariness about 2025, but in the hope we will push forward anyway. xxx
ReplyDelete