Love & Luck in 2019

Read my post title again. Sounds too generic? But in reality, I actually put a lot of thought into this. Read on to know how.

Last week the world celebrated the Chinese New Year, and the coming week is when everyone will be busy with Valentine’s Day preparations (you can love it or hate it, but you can’t ignore it!). Given that I am just getting back to my writing routine, I missed the bus on writing a New Year’s post, and am delayed getting my annual Valentine’s post out (check out previous V-Day posts below). So I decided to do a double post this weekend.

But while I was researching Chinese New Year trends and Valentine’s Day, there unraveled a strange connection between the two. Turns out 2019 is “The Year of the Pig” – and is currently being called out as an year that will be filled with luck, achievements, wealth, abundance and prosperity – definitely energies you would want to embrace throughout the year. The pig will bring happiness and fortune across all areas in your life – love, career, money and health! What more can you ask for?

And as per Chinese zodiac, the dominant and lucky color for the Year of the Pig 2019 is – you guessed it right – RED! A color which also symbolizes love and pretty much dominates every Valentine’s Day trend. To add to that, interesting V-day traditions around the world reveal that couples in Germany actually gift each other pig themed figurines as the animal symbolizes both luck and love. So I thought, why not combine the two festivals and celebrate rituals that will help bring more luck and love in our lives in 2019!

Whether you are someone who celebrates the above two holidays or not, whether you are “single and fabulous” or “happily in love” and irrespective of the part of the world you are in right now, here are 10 unique ways to have a blessed 2019 filled with luck and love! Leave a comment if you end up picking something off this list or share your own tradition so we can build it out further.

• Take time out to have an authentic Chinese dinner with your loved ones. After all, the best way to mark the beginning of a new year is by spending time with your family and friends!
• Wear something new and wear something RED! Pamper yourself, feel good and stand out! There are so many ways to embrace red – how about red shoes for both the men and the ladies?
• Forget greeting cards, give the gift of good luck and prosperity by gifting someone a red envelope! Red envelopes containing money are given to loved ones and symbolize good luck and protection from evil spirits. And in a twist on the tradition – gift yourself a red wallet as they are believed to bring good luck and prosperity to the owner. This one from Charles & Keith is a keeper!
• Grab some Fortune Cookies with your friends as an alternative dessert and find out what the future holds for you in 2019 (not a part of Chinese tradition but fun to explore nonetheless!). Here’s a fun online fortune cookie generator. Mine said “True love is on its way. Make room!”, what did you get?

• Embrace happiness! The Buddhist propagate a culture of altruistic happiness by being unselfish to oneself and others. Two easy ways to take action is to get involved with communities such as Project Happiness and Action for Happiness.
• Lose yourself in the beautiful poetry of Rumi, the poet of love and ecstasy. One of my favorites, “Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it”.  
• Make yourself a big bowl of Buddha’s Delight – a traditional, vegetarian Chinese dish which is delicate, flavorful, healthy and comforting – a perfect indulgence for the current season!
• Self love is the best form of love out there. One cannot pour from an empty cup, so learn to take care of yourself first and do something this month that makes you happy. Massages and shopping work for me, so I treated myself to both earlier this week!
• Glitter, Sparkle and Shine, but most of all – be Kind! This February, pay for someone’s coffee, buy flowers to make someone’s day or just compliment someone! You never know when a random act of kindness can make someone’s day. Here’s a list to inspire you and get started. P.S – 17 February is Random Acts of Kindness Day – good timing, right?
• Start a cute Valentine’s Day tradition with your family. Like they say – it all starts with a happy home!

V-Day previously on the Blog: Valentine’s Day 14 Ways, Valentine’s Day Greeting Cards, Valentine’s Day Gift Guide, Valentine’s Day Travel Guide, Valentine’s Special Round-up, How to Say “I Love You”, Fall in Love with Yourself First, Word for 2015: LOVE

Image Credits: Cover, 1, 2, 3, 4