By Marley A. Mutt
Gung Hay Fat Choy B-Town!
That’s Happy New Year B-Town in Cantonese. 2018 is the Year of the Dog in the Chinese Zodiac and I am thrilled to finally have a year I can call my own. I can just feel that this is going to be my year. There are a lot of great things about this being the year of the dog so I’m going to just share a few of my favorites with you, my loyal dog loving readers. First, Chinese New Year traditions don’t include resolutions per se, but it is an opportunity to spend time with loved ones, promote luck and send wishes of prosperity and success. I love this idea. Rather then spending time thinking about what we should “give up†or “lose†we can focus on how we can spread our happy. Dogs are really good at spreading happy. It’s not that hard. It’s a choice. We can choose to be sad and angry that you bought us the pet food on sale that we hate. Or, we can be extra good and cute so you give us extra treats. Pretty simple really. The more we give, the more we get. Dog rule to live by. Second, Dogs are considered Yang. In Chinese philosophy there are two principles, one negative, dark, and feminine (yin) and one positive, bright, and masculine (yang) whose interaction influences everything from health to the destinies of all living things. Neither is better or worse, just different and hopefully balanced. I don’t think it should come as a surprise to anyone that dogs are very yang. This is a short blog and I don’t have time to dive too deep into Chinese philosophy. But, I appreciate the philosophy of balance and that as a dog I take my job as yang provider for the universe very seriously. It’s nice to be recognized as a premium yang this year. Also, since the whole year is yang I’m hoping for lots of great and positive things to come our way. Third, things that are lucky and good for us dogs in this year of the dog include:- Lucky color: green
- Lucky mineral: emerald
- Good Feng Shui Direction: Northwest