Get into the Spirit of the Chinese New Year
I love that the Chinese spread their New Year celebrations over two weeks. Lots of time for festivities, traditions and loved ones.
What does the Year of the Water Tiger have in store for us? I’m not a Chinese astrologer, but I’ve dug up some highlights for you. Here’s what intuitively caught my eye.
The Tiger is associated with Yang (masculine) energy. We all have masculine energy, so this is a time that calls upon the active part of ourselves. Chinese astrologers are telling us to expect things to rapidly change this year. The winter months are the best ones to start new projects. This is also the year of taking risks and adventure. So, get going!
New Year’s Eve is Monday, January 31 and the celebrations go through February 15. So you’ve got lots of time to celebrate and get into the spirit of the Tiger. Some of the traditional celebrations include:
Clearing the home space and letting go of something old
Shopping – clothes, decorations, meat, snacks, firecrackers. Lots of red.
Reunion dinners: gathering of loved ones
Eating dumplings
Sending blessing messages
Giving red envelopes with money or chocolate coins
We don’t have to be Chinese to embrace the spirit of the holiday. Let’s do it!
Here are some ideas for celebrating and observing the Year of the Water Tiger:
Invite your friends for a get together. Ask everyone to wear something red. If you’re having a Virtual hang, make sure the red is from the waist up! Eat dumplings with chopsticks. Order fortune cookies.
FYI – The color red signifies good fortune, luck, vitality, celebrating and prosperity. Who wouldn’t want that?!
Decorate your home with reds and golds. If you can’t find red lanterns, – how about some red helium balloons or streamers. Or …. buy yourself some red dahlias or roses, some red mugs or a red lamp shade. Be creative!
Treat yourself to some red leggings or a red hat or those red leather gloves you’ve been eyeing. Maybe a snazzy red shirt or tie. Fun red socks? Red nail polish!
And remember, the Water Tiger always trusts it’s instincts!
Contemplate letting go of something(s) that you no longer want or need. Think of it as making space for something new in your life.
If you didn’t make any New Year’s resolutions in January, now is the time! You want to make the most of the next two months to start new projects. These can be both professional projects or personal ones. If you’ve been putting off buying those watercolors with the pad and brushes, now is the time. If you’ve been avoiding starting that novel you’ve been wanting to write, why not now? Been postponing decluttering that closet for ages? Make a plan to get started and keep going! Have a great idea for a business? Put your toes in that water and take it a step further. See what happens. The Tiger is beckoning you.
Sending you all many blessings, vibrant energy and courage in this new year of the Tiger,
Sherrie