My New Year
This is my year!
They say cleaning house is not only an external task, it also reflects an inner process. I am not, by any means, a dedicated housewife. Cleaning usually gets done when I notice something in my line of vision, and stops when a better option for the use of time appears.
Yet, lately, I have approached housecleaning from a different angle. I have always been one to recycle and repurpose things: I favoured second hand items, refinished furniture abandoned on the curb, and moved items around to meet the need for new purposes. But now, I am looking at my home the way I am looking at myself: I am enough, and what I have is enough. I have no interest in purchasing more ‘stuff’. I have enough of everything: clothes, boots, shoes (this is a big deal!), furniture, kitchen stuff…
In Asian tradition, the beginning of the new year is to be prepared: clearing out the old to make way for the new, inside and out. Each new year is represented by an animal that symbolizes the year’s energy, guiding your focus.
The Year of the Fire Horse begins on Tuesday, February 17th, 2026. The past year was symbolized by the Snake, a time of looking within, and shedding what no longer serves: emotional patterns, beliefs that were rooted in old versions of ourselves, reactions that are not in our best interest.
I am not of this heritage, but I related to processes that involve working within as well as working without, tending to my heart within as well as the external life I live. I believe in the need for alignment, so that progress can be made without strain or struggle. I believe that clearing out what we have outgrown allows us to invest our energy into new beginnings that reflect the new version of ourselves.
This year, I am leaving behind patterns that have caused me much grief.Although I have overcome may obstacles and achieved many milestone goals through hard work . I do realize that the need to achieve is often driven by a need for external validation. After all, striving is often born from a place of lack, intended to improve our life by always chasing the next best goal.
It’s just that now, I am turning away from the pull of external goals. Instead of looking for more, I am turning my focus within to reflect what I have already, and continue, to become. Perhaps it is the energy of the times, or the time of my life, that supports this shift. Either way, this is bringing me peace in a way few of my striving journeys ever have.
I am beginning to glimpse that the way I am is perhaps enough; the life I have, and still am creating, is enough. Perhaps the path of growth I can embrace now will come from within; growing not from striving and struggling, but blooming from nurturing my own energy, my own inner power, with the knowledge I have already gleaned.
This seed can grow in the native soil I have already provided; and that is not only enough, it is true magic.