Entrance to street at Disney’s California Adventure on Chinese New Year, February 10, 2013

A week ago the beginning of the Chinese New Year of the Snake occurred bringing with it the release and shedding of old thoughts and ways of doing life. Some might think this is bad. In reality, it is a wonderful opportunity to move forward instead of being stuck, yet some people don’t like change.

The Year of the Dragon was all about “new” – new jobs, new homes, new relationships, new families, new businesses, new ways of doing what has been done before. A phrase I heard was “reinventing” – something I saw happening in my life most of the year. The symbolism of the dragon is powerful since it is a way to “burn up” old energy and greet the new.

With this coming year being the Year of the Snake, some people are really nervous about what might be ahead for us. “Snake” people often refer to their year as that of the “Little Dragon” to set the tone for a more appealing thought in other’s minds. Using either name is permissible. The word “dragon” brings a sense of power with it.

This coming year is a powerful year of transformation. It might happen gently or abruptly. The Berlin Wall came down during a Year of the Snake. It also was a “Snake” year when the Twin Towers came down. Both of these were powerful statements of change in our world.

When transformation occurs we often are not prepared for it. One of the many things each of us can do is to look at our lives and be grateful for what we have right now – the people in our lives, things we have or do, and our own self-knowledge of who we are. Looking back at the transformations we have gone through – especially how we handled the radical changes in our lives in late 2001 to early 2002 – would be beneficial.

Finances and communication are going to be big issues along with transformation in this coming year. Saving for “rainy days” and being frugal would serve many of us well. Taking interpersonal communication classes or learning to listen rather than talk will benefit us in our personal relationships as well as professionally.

More about the above photo:

Here is the entrance to one of the alley streets at Disney’s California Adventure all decked out in celebratory attire or red and gold with Chinese lanterns, firecrackers, gold coins and of course Mickey Mouse’s head in red and gold. Bringing in the Year of the Snake – Disney style.

This can be a fabulous year for transforming our lives toward our dreams by slowly moving back and forth to gather various viewpoints rather than running “full speed ahead” straight at them.