It’s the year of the Red Fire Monkey. Ever seen a monkey walk a straight line? Oh they might walk down a straightish branch, they might walk across a rope which is stretched straight. They will even take the straight line to get what they want. The thing is, what they want changes from moment to moment so their path is actually more like a star, going here and then back but not really because it’s over here and then back but what about over here….
What makes this relevant is that in this year of creativity, we need to depend less on straight line paths, long term plans, and steady paces, and lean more on our discernment. This year will be full of opportunities, but not all opportunities are created equal. We need to be able to discern from the opportunities not only what will work best for us, but see them in context. If we judge them based on expectations, on hype, on what we think is right or fair or realistic, would could be fooled. If we try to force them to fit into a shape that works better for us we’ll find that they skitter away leaving us with empty arms or even worse, with the “remains” to clean up.
Remember that old shell game, find the pea under the three shells? What can seem like a good opportunity this year could just be an empty shell. What could seem like Monkey giving us a gift could be an empty banana peel instead. Discernment will help us see what has positive potential rewards vs. what is just empty space. It won’t necessarily be obvious. It won’t necessarily set off our spiritual spidey senses. This year is about the mind. The creative side where everything is possible and probable is a negligible factor and the logical side where everything has equal value. Discernment utilizes the wisdom of our soul/body/emotions to help us make good choices among all this input. It rarely allows us to be fooled by sleight of Monkey hand.