Kung Hei Fat Choy
I’ve always been somewhat of a realist. So naturally, I had to take a bit of a step back when I happened upon my Chinese birth-year “animal” traits.
The most creative sign in the Chinese zodiac, those born in the Year of the Sheep are artistic, sensitive, sweet and charming. Shy by nature, these people are well-mannered, but will occasionally say the wrong thing at the wrong time. Still, with their charm and innocence they never lack for protective friends and admirers. Once they find work that makes use of their considerable talents, they are passionate about what they do. Typically surrounded by beautiful things, they have an ardent love of creature comforts and are almost always elegantly dressed. Conversely, they have an innate love of nature and the outdoors. In business, Sheep enjoy great success in creative professions, as artists, actors, or designers.
I have to admit that I struggled to come up with an explanation for the alarming accuracy of this description, which supposedly (impossibly) applies to all the other people who were also born in 1979. So I read up on the rest of the animals – maybe they’re written so that any one of them could apply? Evidently not. Though other years were similarly accurate for the birth years of people I know well. I submit.
So this all got me thinking, what are they saying then about recent years?
2009 is evidently the year of the Ox, representing simplicity, patience and hard work. Apparently, this year is meant to clear up the clutter left behind by 2008 (evidently a year of financial abandon).
Perhaps it’s all based in fancy, but frankly, 2008 on a larger scale was a bit of a self-induced disaster. And now is very much a prudent time to pull our collective heads out of the clouds and start thinking practically (though I would argue that there really is no wrong time for practicality).
The reductionist Ox mantra is: hard work pays off, and laziness does not.
It’s meant to be a year of truth and fairness. Those who work hard will be rewarded, and those who slack off can expect to gain back precisely what they’ve invested. It’s time to get our homes in order, reassess our priorities, and give more of ourselves in order to support a faltering economy. The basic message: tend the fields now, and you’ll have plenty to eat next winter.
Honesty and fairness are central to the way I live my own life, so this works for me. Ironically, this realist is now finding herself nodding in full agreement with the no-BS message of this year’s Chinese zodiac (what?).
Roll on Ox year.
Written by Chanie Pritchard, Sage Media Design
