Amy Lu's View

As we enter the Year of the Rabbit, I (of course) did some Googling and read that this year will be a time for introspection, peace, meditation, and calm.

This surprised me. I’m no expert on rabbits, but I do not think of them as symbolizing any of these characteristics or activities. I think of rabbits as being jittery, anxious, excitable and distracted. 

Yes, I identify with my version of a rabbit. 

But perhaps my symbolic rabbit (let’s call her Mabel as I think that is the name of my plush Grandma’s Marathon rabbit) has the potential to be more. Just like I proposed in my last post about the possibilities for Couch Potato to have multiple and expansive identities, Mabel can be more than what others, or herself, expect her to be. Not that Mabel has to give up being her typical, comfortable, on-brand self (let’s call it “energetic”)–but she doesn’t have to be limited to that. 

I’m sensing a theme with two blog posts in a row on expanding identities. Why does seeing others and myself  in new ways appeal to me so strongly? Am I just inspired by the new year? Am I feeling a mid-life urge to shake things up a bit?

I know that one specific, useful, and thematically appropriate Year of the Rabbit way I could expand my M.O. is to practice mediation–but I don’t expect that to happen in the near future. This isn’t because I don’t see the value of meditation, but it just feels so not like me, so uncomfortable to me. Which of course is one of the main reasons I should try it. I think meditation is useful and helpful for everyone, but especially for those of us who really struggle with slowing down and sitting (literally and metaphorically) with our thoughts. 

I’m not giving up on ever meditating, and in fact aspire to–someday. Until then, I’m open to easing into meditation with meditation-adjacent activities, such as my daily dance break when I try to just focus on dancing and the song I’m listening to. 

I’m clearly not meditative, but what about some of the other characteristics of this new Chinese year? I especially wonder if I’m introspective. I think about my thoughts and feelings a lot–but I’m not sure that’s introspective as much as narcissistic and obsessive. I don’t reflect as much as I perseverate and ruminate (yes, I really wanted to use those words because they sound cool). 

Still, this attention I pay to what’s going on with the inner me could be the basis for something more reflective and meaningful. I could go beyond just thinking about what I’m thinking and wonder WHY I’m thinking and feeling something and what it might mean and what I might want to do with that insight. 

The Year of the Rabbit–at least in its introspective, peaceful, meditative, and calm aspects–doesn’t really seem like a year for me, but maybe I can make it my own, at least sometimes. 

The next time you see me flailing around like an unhinged muppet, consider that I could still be feeling calm and peaceful under all that frazzled activity.