If you want a different kind of new year, be a new you

Happy New Me 2018 graphic
Image from a Foztee sweatshirt
Sam Soto and I loved Corey Teague’s 2018 New Year message so much we translated it to Spanish. Corey is keeping it real – and we can all benefit by following suit.

Now we have reached the part of the show where everyone begins talking about who they plan to “cut off” and how they plan to be “new” and how everything will just be different. Look out, here comes a reality check: unless you don’t wake up tomorrow, it’ll be Monday. That’s it, Monday. And then, there will be Tuesday, Wednesday, so on and so forth. Nothing out of the ordinary will happen UNLESS you do something unordinary to provoke an unordinary event to occur. Remember, NOTHING FROM NOTHING LEAVES NOTHING. You must be willing to do something in order to get something. That’s how life works. This attitude that life owes you something must die within you before you can begin mentally preparing yourself to receive something. What have you done lately for someone other than yourself? If you have to take longer than 30 seconds to answer then you’re living in a vacuum. It’s time to step out and live in 2018. If not, this new year will begin and end just like every other year. read more

Wishes to all for a Happy New Year of the Monkey!

xin_nian_kuai_le_by_pyrhaaa-d4ac0kj
Source: Caligraphy by pyrhaaa

year of the monkey

Wishes to all for a Happy New Year of the Monkey! In 2016 the Chinese New Year begins today 08 February and lasts through 27 February. I’ve gathered together some guides for celebrating, which includes various traditions practiced in Asian households around the world and my fun Chinese New Year collection at Pinterest.

Monkey Chinese New Year Stamp
Source: Monkey Chinese New Year stamp 2016 from the USPS
On a national level – the USPS released its Year of the Monkey stamp on 05 February 2016.

The Year of the Monkey stamp is the ninth of twelve stamps in the Celebrating Lunar New Year series. The stamp art depicts two bright reddish orange peonies against a purple background. Peonies symbolize wealth and honor in Chinese culture and often decorate the sides of the traditional drums played during the holiday festivities. Artist Kam Mak created this original painting. Art director and stamp designer Ethel Kessler incorporated elements from the previous series of Lunar New Year stamps — Clarence Lee’s intricate cut-paper design of a monkey and the Chinese character for “monkey,” drawn in grass-style calligraphy by Lau Bun — to create continuity between the stamps in the series. read more