Happy New Year Redux
Happy Chinese (Lunar) New Year!
2012 is the Year of the Dragon, traditionally associated with energy and change, good luck and good health.
Given a rather inauspicious start to the calendar year–two long-haul flights in two weeks, followed by almost immediate and prolonged immobilisation due to my dislocated kneecap, ended up causing a couple of large and scary pulmonary emboli–I’m really looking forward to what the mythical dragon will bring.
It’s Chinese tradition to sweep away any bad fortune from last year to make room for the good, and in doing this I’d like to acknowledge the good I’ve already seen emerge from the bad:
PE is a life-threatening condition that will involve at least six months recuperation and a lifetime of watchfulness, and I want to thank Dr Cookson at City GPs, who promptly turned a routine check-up into a trip to the emergency ward; Dr Eberhardt and Dr Perrin at Wellington Hospital, who diagnosed me and started treatment so quickly; the incomparable nursing staff who took such good care of me during my first-ever stay in hospital; and all the medical staff who continue to help me recover. I’m thankful that my body, mind and spirit weren’t ready to give up, but without the dedicated efforts of all these people, it’s possible that I wouldn’t have lived to see another day, and for that I will be eternally grateful.
I also consider myself fortunate to have experienced the extraordinary kindness and generosity of spirit that some people so naturally and freely share. I’m grateful to have learned the difference between fair-weather friends and soul-mates, and for the chance to let the people I love, both old and new, know how much they mean to me. I also appreciate the opportunity to prioritise my own values and desires–instead of too often doing what others expect of me. For example, I actually enjoy doing less, this is the only kind of fame to which I genuinely aspire, and I honestly believe that it’s the little things that are most important. This year, I want to read and write more–and not for work. I want to listen to music without doing anything else at the same time. I want to grow strange little plants and practice abstract embroidery. And I want to swim in the ocean and walk in the sun.
Best wishes for the Year of the Dragon everyone!
