Pondering the Year of the Rat and What's Next After Cancer
Here I am, in one of my favorite beanies, watching the senate impeachment trial between short bouts of housework. I’m also pondering the start of the Chinese lunar new year. It is the year of the rat, and the new moon is in Aquarius, out of the eclipse cycle.
I read a fascinating horoscope from Chani Nicholas and I want to include a quote here because it really solidified where I’m at at this moment in my life, nearly ending the period of cancer treatment and thinking about what lies next for me.
”The first New Moon of the decade occurs on January 24th at 1:42 PM PT. It lets us know that if we are really living life, very little about us is supposed to remain the same. Our relationships are supposed to change. Our needs are supposed to change. Our priorities are supposed to change. When we heal, we begin to develop a completely new orientation to our lives. Don’t worry if you have become unrecognizable.”
I am a different version of the person I was when I was diagnosed with breast cancer last April. A better version, I think. I’ve learned a lot about myself and managed to wrangle a lot of positive, lasting lessons from the experience. I settled into the convalescent life and found my groove.
I started a meditation practice, something I’d wanted to do for decades but never felt greatly motivated to commit to.. I relished being able to slow down and be with myself, and stopped scolding myself for not being more productive. I found a new appreciation for getting lots of rest and sleep. I devoured novels again like I did in my carefree 20’s. I made yoga a top priority, committing to restorative Iyengar yoga 4+ times a week and scheduling everything else around that. For the first time, self care became my most important undertaking.
Overall this phase of my life devoted to healing has been a great experience. Yes of course there has been some suffering and I would never have chosen to have cancer. But I’d still like to believe it chose me to teach me some lessons.
My treatments are nearly over but I still have convalescing ahead of me. I’ll be re-forming and reinventing myself post-cancer, as I adapt to my transformed body and my new outlook. Will I be unrecognizable? That remains to be seen.
In Chinese astrology this is the Year of the Metal Rat, and I was born in the last cycle of year of the metal rat. The rat typically represents new beginnings. The Year of the Rat is said to give us a chance to turn unfortunate events into fortunate ones. That has certainly been my goal in dealing with cancer. I have a big birthday coming up toward the end of the year and it falls during a full moon —what an auspicious time for me! This is really MY year and I intend to enjoy it fully.
Here is a link to the full article:  https://chaninicholas.com/a-note-on-the-new-moon-in-aquarius-january-24-2020/