We moved into the year of the fire horse just a few days ago, and my social media feed has been filled with posts about charging ahead, being impulsive, not being stagnant. And I can see that with the yang aspect of fire combined with the horse. I’m reminded of the Chariot tarot card, one where the charioteer takes the reins and goes forward. It’s a card of movement, a card of setting goals and racing toward them.
I’m reminded though of other horses I’ve known. Steady schoolmasters who bring forward movement in a steady and purposeful way. Three-day eventers and show jumpers who brave the biggest obstacles because they take strength and courage from their rider. They listen, they work together, and as a team they achieve their goals.
The fire horse to me isn’t a year where one takes the bit in their teeth and takes off without course or goal for the hell of it. Instead, I see the fire horse as having spent the last several months fixing an eye on the target, a steady “this is what I’m built for” mentality, and then they move forward. Not impulsively, not without goals or purpose, but steadfast, determined, and most of all, moving forward.
Sometimes on the trail a horse needs to stop and gently pick itself over an obstacle, or be careful, but forward as you navigate an obstacle like poles or cones on the ground. This is the energy, I choose to bring into the coming year. I know where I’m going. I know where the obstacles are, and it is my goal to move through them as determined and as quickly as possible, but without getting careless or forgetting my end goal. If I slip and fall before I get there, it will only delay my progress. So I’m careful, but determined, fired up and fierce, along with my focus. This is a marathon, not a sprint, and my steed is ready to go.
On a more purposeful writing front this means finally diving into the young adult fantasy academy series that I’ve been writing and working on for the last few years, publishing them without doubt or fears. It means putting together a reviewer team. And It means stepping up my promotion and marketing game.
The fire doesn’t have to blaze out of control for it to drive us. It can be a steady heat, one that provides the energy to keep us moving forward. The year of the fire horse will bring that, hopefully for all of us.
