Going with the flow in the Year of the Water Tiger

“If you do not change direction, you may end up where you are heading.” ~Lao Tzu

“But water will wear away rock, which is rigid and cannot yield. As a rule, whatever is fluid, soft, and yielding will overcome whatever is rigid and hard. This is another paradox: what is soft is strong.” ~Lao Tzu

It’s the first week of the Lunar New Year, and I have to say, the year of the Water Tiger sounds pretty auspicious for a move to Costa Rica to me! As a Rooster, this means that I will meet new people who will help me in 2022 and find new creative inspiration. I’m here for it.

Tigers move fast and are quick to action, change is constant. And Water is a powerful force of nature that can cut through stone and carve its own path. If anyone had anything to say about the flow of water and the nature of change its Lao Tzu, so I thought I’d share reflections on what this move means for me, with inspiration from the great teacher.

“If you do not change direction, you may end up where you are heading.”

I’ve worked really hard towards the American-flavored goal of success and establishing a home and a stable life for the past decade or more. Building a career and then a business of my own, buying a house, growing a community of friends and people I love. I’ve remodeled to make my house a sanctuary, collected art and furniture that bring me joy. I feel home, and safe, and so comfortable.

But suddenly it all feels like a cozy trap just posing as success. Every day of the past two years has felt the same. I’ve grown restless and frankly, unhappy. If I stay, I know exactly where I’m headed. Comfortably bored.

One of my dear friends recently said to me: “I want to be a little bit scared about something really cool and exciting again!”

I couldn’t agree more.

“Life is a series of natural and spontaneous changes. Don’t resist them; that only creates sorrow. Let reality be reality. Let things flow naturally forward in whatever way they like.”

Change can be a great loss, or a great opportunity. Sometimes, it’s both.

It seems there are moments in life when an invisible doorway just sort of opens itself up and beckons you to walk through it. Or a nagging idea that just won’t get out of your mind. It’s like you’re in a play, or a video game, and you have no option but to begin the next scene, or start the next level. You must continue forward. Have you ever felt this?

I’ve found myself at this precipice again, and the only way to scratch the itch is to go. I’ll be challenged to embrace new things that I won’t be able to control, and I’ll find myself in a new reality. There will be things I will miss, but new things I would have never known if I never had taken the chance.

I know it will be hard at times, but these upcoming chapters beg to be written. Like water, I must go with the flow.

“Those who flow as life flows know they need no other force.”

Am I running towards something, or away from something? Perhaps it doesn’t matter. Perhaps surrender is the better word.

If I were resistant I would simply stay put, where I know what to expect, in comfortable stability. Instead I choose to surrender and flow along into the unknown. I don’t need to know why, or know what to expect. And that’s exactly how I want it to be.

Happy Lunar New Year to you all, and may we all find the flow this year.