The Year of the Fire Horse

I went back home recently and found myself enjoying an evening at a garden bar with three of my best friends from high school. Looking around the table, I was cuddled up in the feelings of fuzziness I get even just by seeing their faces, but that night something was off. After my initial love and appreciation subsided, I couldn’t help but notice how exhausted, confused, and maybe scared everyone at the table looked, and unfortunately, I had to include myself. None of us have kids yet, though one of us is trying, and it wasn’t the age either, as we’re all 30-31 and still don’t look much different than when we were 18, thanks to everyone religiously taking care of their skin without excuse. No. Something was off, and I had to dig deeper, knowing myself. Around the table, everyone was in a relationship or married. The majority of us are even busy redecorating our homes or renovating, a very lucky position to be in. Our careers are progressing ambitiously: one is finishing a PhD, one is pursuing an MD specialisation, one is taking a psychotherapy course, and one is running her physiotherapy and interior design business. Yet, all the sour faces got us talking, and we started opening up, sharing our fears and hopes, which quickly led to one of us ordering a pack of cigarettes that all but the soon-to-be-pregnant friend started smoking. The nervous energy was palpable. And then, the most unlikely friend proclaimed: “Girls, I think we’re just suffering the Chinese year of the Fire Horse. My problems certainly started in February, and I have this intense feeling that everyone around me is making good, but very painful progress in life.” I had to laugh. I was always the one who loved astrology the most, and yet there was my most “rational” friend, resorting to grasping for meaning through zodiac signs. However, she just might have described the angst I have been witnessing all around me this year. It’s like birds stopped chirping, the magic is drained away, and hope is dwindling, but then again, this just might be the disillusionment of our new decade. So, I’d like to invite all the readers to contemplate on how they can increase the feelings of childish awe and relaxation in their lives. Even if you don’t share our experience this year, I believe we can all agree that maybe it’s time to take into consideration something more than just work-life balance. Consider ways to reconnect with the excited child you once were.

Written by a randomly drawn subscriber, read by a human, then sent to the whole list. Its writer chose to share it here.