…prepared to do the work needed…

As I’m sure most of you know, Chinese astrology has twelve animals assigned to the years and with those different years the elements of water/earth/air/fire paired with the animal.  2019 is the year of the earth pig or “brown pig”.  The Chinese New Year started on February 5th and ends on January 24th 2020.  According to the Chinese astrology “2019 is going to be full of joy, a year of friendship and love…a great year to make money, and invest…Pig attracts success in all the spheres of life…”

If you’re familiar with the Pennsylvania Dutch tradition of eating pork and sauerkraut on January 1, for good luck in the up coming year, pig makes another presentation for success/luck.  Why Pig?? It’s because pigs root forward with their snout, some believe that rooting forward symbolizes good luck.  Since pigs can’t turn it’s head to the side or look behind, it serves as a reminder to us to look forward into the new year and new possibilities.  Some believe that eating sauerkraut will bring blessings and wealth…”as much goodness and money as the number of shreds of cabbage in the pot…”

Now I know some of you might be thinking…Why the Chinese astrology/pig symbolism??  I was thinking about the common theme of success/luck/money associated with the Pig symbolism.  I connect Pig to Mother Earth.  It is a time to get more connected with the earth…teaching us how to find the gems buried in “mucky situations”… Pig symbolism ties to wild boars.  Boars are ferocious/tenacious when it comes to hunting.  These are good qualities to apply when you have elusive goals.  Pig/Wild boar energy can help “hunt and catch” whatever is most important to you.

I’ve been doing some deep spiritual work within me.  Swimming through the muck, so to speak, in order to transform and become more aware/living my authentic life. Working on identifying my life’s purpose, nurturing/ cultivating that purpose in order to have it present in my daily life.  Honoring that purpose with intent.  A lot of hard work, however, rewards and enlightenment makes it worth the effort.

I’d like to tell you a short story…while I was living at Lake Michigan last Summer, the girls and I hiked often.  Along one of our trails I found a incredible red tailed hawk feather…I have kept that feather with me ever since…I had it with me while I was teaching my first class in Minnesota…one of the students noticed it and asked me what kind of feather it was…I told him red tailed hawk and mentioned the animal medicine/meaning the hawk is to me…he asked if he could take a photo and send it to a family member who studies birds with a specialty in feather identification…naturally I said “Sure”…turns out the feather is from a juvenile male and was a “really good one”…The red tailed hawk has been present with me since the beginning of this journey and continues to stay with me…Yesterday, I saw a RTH catching the drift of the wind and was able to fly, in the same place, for minutes…just staying in one spot, adjusting it’s wings to stay in the wind drift…it was INCREDIBLE.  It stayed in that one spot directly above me for about 15 minutes…

I’m still trying to figure out the message, however I’m feeling blessed…honoring the RTH spirit by acknowledging it’s presence in my life and the message.

This was so me…especially with the refreshed life journey my girls and I are now on…I began this journey with an idea of what this lifestyle looked like… I became focused on the path to realize that vision…Fear was present in most of my choices.  Fear, mostly manifested as a result of money and how I was going to make it to support us on the road.  Fear is necessary in life, however, not the kind of fear that stifles my growth.

I’m currently working on identifying/cultivating/nurturing my essence.  A “project” for the Winter.  It’s not easy.  Looking at yourself with humility/vulnerability/honesty is difficult.  Not every aspect is good/light/positive.  I’m learning to acknowledge these aspects, bring a death to them, arise with a rebirth of a fresh light.  Death is a path to transformation.

I’m ready to work tenaciously/ferociously, to honor my authentic self…LIVE MY LIFE WITH IT PRESENT… It’s going to be an enriching year, I can feel it…

…Blessings to you all that the year of the Pig, brings you enrichment/happiness/wealth; whatever that looks like to you and means in your life…Thank you all for following along with our journey…Let me know what you think in the comments below…